Government has approved a long-awaited upward adjustment in the daily feeding allowance for inmates, raising it from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5 — the first review since 2010.
Interior Minister, Mr. Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, made the disclosure when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
He said the increment had received presidential approval and would be captured in the 2026 Budget, with GH¢10 million set aside to cover the last quarter of this year.
The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, also addressed the committee, highlighting how poor feeding arrangements undermine prisoner health and welfare.
“Once the feeding is wrong, it has ripple effects on health and every other thing; we are working assiduously to ensure the rules change. We are hopeful the GH₵5 a day will be increased in the course of 2026 to reflect the feeding regime for a disgruntled adult, an angry adult behind bars,” she said.
She revealed that prison facilities currently rely on gardens, small fish ponds, poultry projects, and occasional donations from churches to supplement food rations. According to her, inadequate feeding is a major cause of unrest in prisons.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie further urged government to see prisoner welfare as part of national security.
“If we want to have serious public safety in this country, we have to prioritise the needs of prisoners. Because they’re part of us, they will be with us, and we don’t know who will be our next guest,” she stated.
She added that although the new GH¢5 rate had been approved, the Prisons Service would continue to push for additional adjustments in 2026 to reflect the real cost of feeding inmates.
