Mr Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has reportedly urged Ghanaian prison authorities to consider introducing private facilities where married inmates can spend intimate time with their spouses during scheduled visits.
Broadcast journalist Kwame Tanko of Lawson Media disclosed the proposal after visiting the former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, where Wontumi is serving a prison sentence.
According to Tanko, Wontumi argued that incarceration does not erase the emotional and biological needs of prisoners and that authorities should consider ways of allowing married inmates to maintain intimacy with their legal partners.
“Prisoners are human beings who still have natural feelings,” was the central argument attributed to Wontumi, as he reportedly called for designated hostels or private cabins for conjugal visits.
He reportedly suggested that Ghana could learn from jurisdictions that allow inmates private time with their spouses under regulated conditions.
Wontumi reportedly linked the proposal to concerns about alleged same-sex sexual activity within prisons, arguing that providing opportunities for inmates to maintain intimacy with their spouses could help address the issue.
Conjugal visits are not currently part of the country’s standard prison visitation system, and introducing them would require consideration of legal, security, operational and welfare issues.
