Man jailed two years for stealing 8 fowls freed

Crime Check Foundation(CCF), an organization committed to the prevention of crime and philanthropy towards prisoners, has freed one Kwame Adra, who was convicted for stealing 8 fowls and imprisoned for two years, after paying his fine.

The court found Kwame Adra gulity of stealing eight fowls and committed him to prison after he failed to pay a fine. Now though, under the Excomvict Reintegration Project of the Crime Check Foundation(CCF), Mr Adra has been freed.

Commenting after his release, Crime Check Foundation(CCF) lamented the lack of a Non-custodial Law whereby convicted persons could render community service instead of serving prison sentences, especially for minor offences.

The organization bemoaned the seeming discrimination among the rich and the poor in the criminal justice system where the rich can resort to technicalities to avoid prison while the poor get caged.

“8 fowls = 2years in jail. Much as we should all not condone crime, Kwame Adra could have been desilting the gutters if we had a Non-Custodial Law in place. He lost his mum at an early age and had to bear the hatred of a step mother.

He wouldn’t also go to school because he believes he is not good enough to waste his time listening to a teacher. Many Kwame Adras around but prison should not be a quick option for all these Petty Offenders when politicians use technicalities in court to delay their trial after stealing huge sums of money from the public purse. We paid his fine and got him released under our Exconvict Reintegration Project and warned him to sin no more,” CCF said in a post on social media.

The need for a Non-custodial Law in Ghana has come up now and again as the prisons have become congested and investment in it remains limited. In the face of Government’s limited resources, imprisoning people for petty crimes has become a major drain on resources given that the prisons have catered for by Government.

CCF has been a major advocate for the promulgation of a Non-custodial Law in Ghana.