Managers of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) in the Ashanti region say it is stunned by the number of youth inmates serving various jail terms.

According to the Prison Authorities, the majority of the youth inmates were convicted of theft, robbery, murder, assault, and fraud among others.

Addressing Journalists in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional Prisons Command, Public Relations Officer (PRO), ASP. Richard Bukari called on Civil Society Groups, the Clergy, and the Traditional Authorities to take a particular interest in the development of youth.

He explained that the majority of the inmates in the facility are youth, which will affect the country’s development if the issue is not addressed.

“The youthful age in Prisons is now a dominant thing we need to be discussing. Initially, we got a significant number of adults but now only the youth find themselves in prison. For me it has an effect on the nation, Ashanti region, and on us as individuals’’ ASP Bukari said.

He continued by saying “all the productive energy that should have been used in developing the nation has now been warehoused in the Prisons here in that we are losing our human resource as a nation.

So, any effort at making sure that they become useful citizens is welcomed. As much as possible I will advise the youth to desist from whatever activities have the potential of bringing them to prison. There’s a lot they can contribute to national development as some Ghanaians are doing’’, ASP Bukari posited.