ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the practice of prison labour in two selected African countries Ghana and Botswana with a view to highlighting the beneficial aspects and also identifying the inherent weaknesses which require closer scrutiny for possible changes. Prison labour has had a relatively long history in Ghana. Ghana, like Botswana, also has two types of prison labour: activities outside prisons and activities within the prisons. In Ghana, prison labour is heavily utilized for the benefit of both the Prisons Service and the general public. The Industrial Wing of the service has undertaken some private work outside the prisons. For instance, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Wing completed a privately owned house in Accra. It also carried out painting work for the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation and did renovation work on the Cape Coast Prison Officers’ Living Quarters. In both Botswana and Ghana, the unemployment rate is very high, but relatively higher in Ghana.
