Cells at the Sekondi Central Prison were flooded after hours of heavy rain overwhelmed the facility’s drainage system, forcing inmates to spend hours scooping out water and standing for extended periods with nowhere to go.
The prison, built in 1902 to house between 150 and 200 inmates, now holds more than 600. When heavy rains hit, water flows into low-lying sections of the overcrowded yard, trapping inmates in waterlogged conditions.
Accordin to a report by 3news.com, a joint inspection by prison authorities and engineers from construction firm Viabuild confirmed that the flooding stems from fundamental weaknesses in the facility’s drainage design.
Viabuild Health and Safety Manager Edward Lee Aflade explained that the system creates a pressure imbalance during heavy rainfall.
“The inner drain is carrying volumes of water into the outfall, but the connecting ones lack the capacity to push it out. So it stays until the flow reduces before it can connect,” he said.
Director of Operations and Facility Management Benedict Bob Derry put it more plainly: “It looks like a bigger gutter had been created to run into a smaller one. That is where the problem is coming from.”
He added that the prison’s low elevation worsens the situation, with runoff from surrounding areas flowing back into the yard during storms.
Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson said the flooding was only one of several reasons the prison needed to be relocated entirely.
“I’m not even saying this because of the flood situation alone — the location itself makes relocation necessary. It should be somewhere with more space and better security, away from the city centre,” he said.
Discussion about this post