The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) Africa office, an implementing partner of the United States Agency International for Development (USAID), Justice Sector Support Activity, has supported public education on the ‘Community Service Bill’.
The public education, held at Teshie in the Ledzokuku Municipality, Mantsi in the West Ga Municipality and Jericho in the Ashaiman Municipality, all in the Greater Accra Region, was aimed at educating the public on the benefits of the community sentence bill and the need for Ghanaians to push for its passage into an Act.
Community service refers to unpaid work rendered by a lawbreaker within a community for the advantage of that community for a period not exceeding the term of jail for which a competent court of jurisdiction would have convicted the offender.
Innocent Adamadu, the Executive Director of the African Institute for ADR Studies and Social Development (AIFASSOD), was the facilitator at the three venues for public education.
Participants at all the venues called for the passage of the ‘Community Service Bill’ after Mr Adamadu had explained some of the purposes of the Bill which included; lessening the government’s expenditures on prison services and the laden on the taxpayer, reducing pressure on the prisons, enabling offenders to serve their communities and not entirely dissociating them from their family, encouraging reformation and reduction in repeat offenders.
Referring to the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), Mr Adamadu explained drunk-driving, indecent exposure, committing forgery, minor assault or battery, threatening another person and minor drug offences as some specific crimes the community service bill would consider, “and any other offence with a punishment of not more than three years.”
Before the court would give its orders for community service, he explained that the court would request an inquiry report on the offender.
“This report will be prepared by the community service officers or officers from the Department of Social Welfare, and in conducting the report the officers will consider the work skills, qualifications, experience, interests and the willingness of the offender to agree to do the unpaid work in the community should the order be issued.
“This report will inform the court’s decision in determining which community work is suitable for the offender. A court which makes a community service order in respect of an offender may sentence the offender to a fine and additionally imprisonment as an alternative punishment to be paid or served, as the case may be, should the offender fail to render the specified service,” Innocent Adamadu explained in Twi, Ewe and English Language.
“The Community Service Bill, when passed into an Act, will provide for the usage of other non-custodial sentencing approaches in convicting offenders for certain types of offences considered as misdemeanours instead of the usual custodial sentencing,” Innocent Adamadu summarised.
The participants were glad about the enormous benefits and purpose of the ‘Community Service Bill’ and argued that sentencing petty offenders to prison terms has been detrimental to the psychological, physical and emotional wellbeing of the offender, rather than reforming them.
“Meting out these harsh sanctions for minor offences have resulted in people leaving their families behind with no one to cater for them, with most children dropping out of school because their breadwinner has been jailed for a minor offence,” some participants said.
Nii Korley VII, the family head of Korleman and a government appointee at the West Ga Municipal Assembly, in commending the facilitator and his partners for the public education, suggested that the constitution of the community service officers must be non-residents.
“That way, punishments for offenders would not be biased. Secondly, the families of the culprits would not know the residents of the officers to assault them. Lastly, these officers must have police protection,” Nii Korley VII added.
