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The Northern Regional Commander of the Ghana Prison Service, ACP Abundant Robert Awolugutu, has appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to give serious consideration to the reconstitution of the Prisons Service Council. ACP Awolugutu made this known in Tamale over the weekend at a maiden durbar with his officers drawn from all facets of the outfit, since he assumed command of the region. He noted that the service has undoubtedly held its own in terms of performance, even in the face of serious challenges in ensuring the safe custody and welfare of inmates. He added that as a constitutional imperative, the administrative and operational conditions of the Prisons Service need the creative attention of the state. �The 1992 Republican Constitution has a provision for the establishment of a Prisons Service Council to formulate policies and guidelines and to undertake periodic inspections of prisons facilities and deal with cases of unjustified treatment. �I humbly appeal to His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana to give serious consideration to the reconstitution of the Prison Service Council to champion the cause of the service.� According to him, the service is in desperate need of funding to enhance its operations. This, he added, is usually due to insufficient government budget allocation, which has led to the demise of reformation and rehabilitation programmes in some prisons while those prisons that have them are dying out, leading to most prisoners being generally unskilled and unmotivated after serving their terms. He also mentioned overcrowding, poor prison infrastructure, lack of vehicles for both administrative and prisoners� use, and suitable accommodation facilities to house officers. �The Prisons Service can only be said to be effective as a social control agency if inmates are equipped with employable skills that facilitate their successful integration and reduce reoffending, which leads to recidivism,� he opined. ACP Awolugutu bemoaned the halt of promotions at the senior management level, which he said creates despondency and de-motivation. According to him, some senior officials of the service have been on their ranks for more than a decade, which is a disincentive for career progression and personnel development, with others retiring without receiving promotions that were long overdue, which has led to some officers leaving the service to seek for better working conditions in other sectors. �This unfortunate situation has brought about both internal and external exodus, with officers leaving the service for other organisations with better salaries and welfare packages.� The Regional Commander also appealed to government to provide the service with a Staff College for the training of senior members of the service and also to give them a hospital. He also called on government to offer officers the opportunity to go for refresher courses and exchange programmes to upgrade their knowledge on new methods, processes and standards of prisons administration and handling of prisoners, which he believes would bring the level of experience and knowledge of officers to international standards. �Our work is as difficult as the work of other role players in the criminal justice system. We humbly ask for reasonable parity in terms of salary and welfare packages as it pertains in the police and the military.�