The government has approved an increase in the daily feeding fee for prisoners from GH¢1.80 to GH¢5, fifteen years after the rate was last reviewed.

The Minister for the Interior, Mr Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak, disclosed this when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

He said the new rate would be captured in the 2026 Budget, following presidential approval, with GH¢10 million expected to be released to cover the last quarter of this year.

Members of the committee described the current GH¢1.80 allocation, which has remained unchanged since 2010, as inadequate for providing three meals a day to inmates.

The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mrs Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, told the committee that once the feeding arrangement is poor, it affects the health and general wellbeing of prisoners.

A member of the committee, Mr Sebastian Fred Deh, compared the figure to the GH¢2.50 per child per day under the school feeding programme and said the situation violated the Mandela Rules, which require the provision of adequate food for prisoners.

He called on the government to release the approved funds without delay to reduce the strain on the prison system.

Mrs Baffoe-Bonnie explained that the Ghana Prisons Service has been supplementing rations with produce from gardens, fish ponds and poultry projects across various facilities, as well as occasional support from churches.

She warned that food shortages remain the main cause of unrest in prisons and stressed that improving rations is necessary to maintain order and protect prison officers.

She added that while the new GH¢5 rate has been approved, the Service will continue to push for a further increase during the 2026 fiscal year to reflect the real cost of feeding adults in custody.