After 15 years without an increase, the government has more than doubled the daily feeding allowance for prisoners, raising it from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5.
The announcement was made by the Minister for the Interior, Mr. Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, during a parliamentary session with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.
The Minister confirmed that the new rate has received presidential approval and will be formally included in the 2026 national budget. To kickstart the initiative, GH¢10 million is expected to be released to cover the final quarter of this year.
The previous allocation of GH¢1.80 per day, unchanged since 2010, was widely condemned by PAC members as “grossly inadequate” for providing inmates with three daily meals.
The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, underscored this point, stating that poor feeding directly impacts the health and well-being of prisoners.
The inadequacy of the old rate was further highlighted by committee member Mr. Sebastian Fred Deh, who compared it to the GH¢2.50 per child allocated under the school feeding program.
He argued that the former prisoner allowance violated the Mandela Rules, which stipulate that inmates must be provided with adequate food, and urged the immediate release of the approved funds.
Mrs. Baffoe-Bonnie also detailed how the Prisons Service has been struggling to cope, supplementing official rations with produce from prison gardens, fish ponds, and poultry projects, alongside occasional support from churches.
She identified food shortages as the primary cause of unrest in prisons and stressed that improved rations are essential for the safety of both inmates and officers.
While welcoming the new GH¢5 rate, the Prisons Service chief indicated that the fight is not over, confirming that the Service will continue to lobby for further adjustments in the 2026 fiscal year to reflect the true cost of feeding adults in custody.