Forty-eight defendants benefit from legal aid

General News on Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Source: GNA

2019-07-31

A project to protect and improve the well-being of prisoners and former detainees has, within 12 months, extended free legal services to 48 remand prisoners in and around Tamale.

The project "Exploiting Opportunities for Ex-Prison Inmates" (HOPE) is an initiative of the Center for Social Development (CSD) Reform, a non-governmental organization operating in Tamale.

Mrs. Eunice Akpeere, CSD Reform board member, made this known during an interview with the Ghanaian News Agency in Tamale.

Akpeere said the intervention was part of efforts to promote justice for all people in the country and to help decongest prisons to promote the health and well-being of prisoners.

She added that free legal services were provided in active collaboration with the legal aid system, which resulted in several cases of release, order, bail and conviction.

She stated that the HOPE project, a social inclusion project, was intended to give real meaning to the principle of transforming the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure that no one was left behind.

Ms. Akpeere said that efforts had also been made to promote the economic independence of former convicted prisoners, as well as to facilitate the acceptance by communities and families of ex-convicts.

She said: "The HOPE project trained 48 beneficiaries in various business development modules, such as record keeping, financial management, tax and legal obligations for small and medium-sized enterprises."

She added that the project had also developed business plans for 21 former detainees, adding that "two companies owned by former detainees were currently receiving credit from the Credit Union at economic interest rates".

Ms. Akpeere stated that the project had facilitated the creation of an online database of former detainees in Tamale and the surrounding area, thus making CSD Reform the only social security organization to have access to information. a secure online directory of former detainees in the north of the country.

"This database houses the biographical and contact data of ex-prisoners, their skill levels and their needs for capacity development.This online directory provides essential data for planning and targeted support."

She said the project also reached 121 direct beneficiaries through service delivery and at least 3,800 indirect beneficiaries through awareness raising and outreach.

The pilot phase of the HOPE project began on July 1, 2018 and will end on June 30, 2020. It is supported by the Catholic Archdiocese of Tamale and financial support from Misereor.