An ex-convict, Dennis Kwaku Agyei, 35 years old says he will never pray or desire a prison for even his worst enemies.
“Prison is not place for anybody to go there”, she stated when her shared his two and half-years prison experience.
Ex-convict Agyei who seems ‘reformed’ said he Agyei he is a native of Susuanso in the Tano North Municipality of the Ahafo Region.
His crime
Agyei confessed that he was jailed 30 months for stealing a mobile phone in 2022 and was discharged in 2024.
“I have the intention to do something decent for living, however there is no support for me now”, he stated.
Societal stigma
After spending two years in jail, Agyei said he had learnt lessons, however expressed worry about societal stigmatization and discrimination since he returned from prison.
He said” “Even my relations and close friends don’t want to associate with me any longer. In fact, I am socially excluded, an emotional pain which is giving me sleepless night”.
“The social stigma is too much for me to cope with. I don’t want to go back to prison and I am begging society to accept me”, he said flimsy in a voice.
Advice
Agyei is advising young people to learn a cue from his excruciating experiences, and avoid lawlessness and deviant behavious that could end them in jail.
“Since I returned back from prison in January 2024, life hasn’t been easy for me. Nobody wants to associate with me, not even my relations”, he stated.
Reintegration
The ex-convict is also appealing to President John Dramani Mahama as appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to facilitate the successful re-integration of ex-convicts back into society.
He said with little support, he and other colleagues could engage in commercial farming activities and livestock production to build on their lives.
He said: “I know that other ex-convicts are also going through the same experiences I am going though we plead with President Mahama to come to our aid and support us to get something worth doing and to build our lives”.
Prison Condition
He also called on President Mahama to improve the conditions at the nation’s prisons to facilitate the reformation of inmates, describing the current condition at the prisons as ‘very bad and appalling’.
Agyei said the poor sanitary condition at the country’s prisons coupled with congestion and other challenges turned to hardening, instead of reforming the inmates.
By Dennis Peprah