A former inmate of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison (NMSP) has described a parallel world operating beneath the facility’s official structures, one governed by unwritten codes, informal hierarchies, and alleged illicit activity that he says prison authorities have been unable or unwilling to stop.
Speaking on Asempa FM, the ex-convict said inmates live under what they call “99 laws,” an unwritten code of conduct that strictly governs behaviour inside the cells. “There are 99 laws in a prison cell, but the moment you step out, you become a free man,” he said.
According to him, each cell operates under its own internal order, led by a designated cell leader who oversees daily life and a cell boy responsible for food service and maintaining cleanliness. The cell boy role, despite coming with a bed as a privilege, is one most inmates avoid. “If anything goes missing in the cell, the cell boy is blamed. That’s why many people don’t like that role,” he explained.
He also alleged the existence of an inmate-run disciplinary mechanism he described as a “cell court,” where minor infractions are heard and punished by fellow prisoners assigned the roles of judge and lawyer. “If you break a rule, even something small like coughing without saying excuse me, you can be tried in a cell court,” he claimed.
Among the more serious allegations, the ex-convict said mobile phones are widely available inside the facility and that some inmates use them to carry out fraud, relying on mobile money vendors to cash out proceeds. He claimed informal financial systems including shared money boxes also exist, and that some inmates run businesses and own property outside prison walls while serving their sentences.
Most troublingly, he alleged that some prison officers may be complicit in allowing these activities in exchange for a share of the earnings. “Some officers take a cut, so they allow these things to go on,” he claimed, without providing specific names or evidence.
He also raised concerns about food quality, alleging that spoiled ingredients are sometimes used in preparing meals for inmates.
NewsGhana could not independently verify the allegations. The Ghana Prisons Service had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication. The claims, while serious, represent the account of a single unidentified former inmate and should be treated accordingly.
NMSP, the only medium security prison in Ghana, was originally commissioned on October 10, 1960 and was designed to hold 717 inmates. It currently houses well over 3,000 prisoners, a severe overcrowding crisis that independent researchers and the Ghana Prisons Service itself have repeatedly flagged as a driver of poor conditions and difficult management inside the facility.
