Twelve prison inmates and three officers have graduated from the Harvestime Prisons Ministry International with diploma in theology. The training forms part of plans by the Prison Service to reform prisoners and reintegrate them into society.

Inmates, however, remain in the custody of the Prison Service until they finish serving their sentences. They presently take turns in dormitory preaching to colleagues in the cells to make disciples for God.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony held in Accra yesterday, a representative of the president of the Vision International University, U.S.A., Jerry Sodeman, advised the grandaunts to lead exemplary lives to influence the attitudes of members of the society.

He noted that the learning and acquisition of knowledge in the Bible school was not the end of the task God has bestowed upon them, but the ability for people to recognize the difference in character through their training.

“The training you have acquired is not just a means of obtaining a certificate but a way of investing into you the love of God and a Christ like behavior” he added. Mr. Sodeman stressed the need for the grandaunts to stay focused in all aspects of their lives, adding, people were recognized by their good deeds and not just the number of miracles they were able to perform.

He wondered what men of God with questionable characters did with all the knowledge acquired from the Bible School. The Chaplain General of the Ghana Prison Service, Rev. (CSP) Gabriel Dankwa, who represented the Director-General said the Prison Service had put in place measures to renew the permits of men of God who enter the prisons every year to cut down charlatans.

He cited instances where some men of God had demanded monies from relatives of inmates with excuse of helping them get out of prison. Rev. (CSP) Dankwa noted that although many people went round soliciting for funds to help inmates, the money realized ended up in their pockets.

The officer in charge of inmates’ education, Supt. Peter Afari Mintah, said 14 inmates would be writing the West African Certificate Examination this year.

He said all 25 inmates who wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination passed and were selected for admission into conventional schools but had to continue at the Prisons Centre. Supt. Mintah called on the grandaunts to prove that the prison had actually transformed them so that others would also be transformed adding, “We want to see you and give thanks to the Lord”.

The officer in charge of the James Camp Prison, ASP Victor Agelengor, appealed to corporate bodies, NGOs and philanthropists to help the camp with computers, books for their library and materials to reconstruct their recreation centre.