The Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, has raised concerns about what he describes as the growing abuse of remand procedures by both the police and the courts.
According to him, many accused persons are being placed on remand unnecessarily, often because of strict bail conditions they are unable to satisfy.
Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, May 28, Mr Muntaka said the government is considering constitutional reforms aimed at making the use of remand more restrictive.
He disclosed that he has been working closely with the Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, on proposed amendments intended to address the situation as part of wider reforms within the justice system.
“I’ve been working with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Dr Dominic Ayine, on the constitutional amendment that is currently ongoing, that we should make remand very restrictive because currently it is massively abused,” he said.
“With the least provocation, they say they’ve remanded somebody. You go to the police, and they remand people anyhow,” he added.
Mr Muntaka also criticised what he described as excessive bail conditions imposed by some courts, saying they often make it impossible for suspects to regain their freedom while awaiting trial.
“Sometimes they give terrible bail conditions that people are not able to meet. We want to take the opportunity in this constitutional amendment to restrict this unnecessary remand,” he stated.
The Interior Minister explained that the proposed constitutional reforms, together with the Community Service Bill, could help reduce overcrowding in prisons and police cells by limiting overreliance on custodial remand.
“I’m sure that if we’re able to get these three things working together, it is going to help us to decongest our prisons and also ourselves and make life a little better,” he noted.
Mr Muntaka further revealed that the government spends about GH¢40 million each year on feeding prison inmates, describing the amount as inadequate given the increasing pressure on the correctional system.