President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced that remand prisoners will be kept separately from convicts when a new remand prison facility is completed.

The president made the disclosure during the State Of The Nation Address, SoNA, which he delivered before parliament today, March 9, 2021.

“Government is also constructing an eight hundred (800) inmate capacity remand prison at Nsawam, which is sixty percent (60%) complete.

“Its purpose is to reduce further overcrowding in prisons, as remand prisoners will now be kept separately from the convict population,” he added.

Overcrowding in prisons have been a perennial concern raised by human rights groups. As recently as March 2020, the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, held 3,500 prisoners who officials said were sharing facilities originally meant for about 790 people.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's 2021 SoNA is the first since he was re-elected for a second term in office.

He touched on different areas of national life, dominantly the area of health and COVID-19, infrastructure development and governance.

SoNA is a constitutional duty of the president and is delivered before the legislature. Parliament will take two days to debate the address, Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu disclosed.