Government triples prisoner feeding allowance after 15 years

The government has increased the daily feeding allowance for prison inmates from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5, marking the first upward adjustment in 15 years.

Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak disclosed the decision when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

He said the increment, which has received President John Dramani Mahama’s approval, will be reflected in the 2026 Budget, with GH¢10 million earmarked to cover the last quarter of this year.

Members of the committee described the old GH¢1.80 rate, unchanged since 2010, as woefully inadequate to provide three meals a day for inmates.

The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, told the committee that poor feeding arrangements compromise the health and well-being of prisoners. She revealed that food shortages often lead to agitation among inmates, posing security challenges.

Inmates sometimes agitate over the poor and inadequate meals, Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie said, adding that unrest in prisons is frequently linked to food shortages.

Committee member Sebastian Fred Deh compared the figure to the GH¢2.50 per child per day under the school feeding programme, warning that the situation violated the Mandela Rules, which mandate adequate nutrition for prisoners.

He urged the government to promptly release the approved funds to ease the strain on the prison system.

Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie explained that the Prisons Service has been supplementing rations with produce from prison gardens, fish ponds, poultry projects, and occasional support from churches.

While welcoming the increase to GH¢5, she said the Service will continue to advocate for a further upward review in the 2026 fiscal year to better reflect the real cost of feeding inmates.

For years, prisoner feeding in Ghana has been a major concern, with successive governments struggling to meet the nutritional needs of inmates.

The GH¢1.80 daily feeding allowance, which remained unchanged from 2010 until the recent review, often forced the Ghana Prisons Service to rely on prison farms, fish ponds, and donations from religious bodies to supplement meals.

Rights groups and oversight committees have repeatedly criticized the allowance as inadequate, warning that it undermines health standards and contravenes international norms such as the Mandela Rules.

The recent increment to GH¢5 is seen as a relief, but food prices mean the figure may still fall short of meeting the actual cost of feeding prisoners.