The evolution of the prison system in Ghana, 1841-2007

Abstract

Ghana’s prison system evolved from the precolonial, colonial, and post- independence periods. The traditional justice system of Ghana, which entailed detention as a punishment for offenders in the precolonial period, cannot be ignored, although some scholars have argued against its existence. During the colonial period, the prison system was implemented in Ghana as a replica of what was practiced in Britain. The former slave castles were converted to confinement facilities by the British colonial government to support imperialism and colonialism. After Ghana obtained independence from Great Britain in 1957, the prison system was retained. This study examines how the Ghana prison system evolved from the traditional pre-colonial method of incarceration to the prison system in the colonial and post-independence periods. The discussion is built on an argument that Ghana had developed an exclusive traditional system of detention of offenders in the precolonial period, and the British prison system introduced in the colonial era was not entirely distinct from the traditional method. The article also finds that overcrowding in prison facilities in Ghana began in the colonial era and continued up to the post-independence period, irrespective of the strategies and mechanisms introduced to curtail it.