Photos : Nsawam Prison & Four Others Get Support From Melcom

The Nsawam Male Prisons and four other institutions have received various supports from the Melcom Care Foundation, the charity arm of the Melcom Group of companies.

The Nsawam male prisons received items such as bags of rice, toiletries, men’s clothes, assorted drinks and biscuits.

This was in response to an appeal made on their behalf, by the Greenhills School of Health Sciences.

The female inmates of the Sekondi Prison also received bags of rice, toiletries, female clothes, sanitary pads, cartons of soft drinks, biscuits and assorted items, after an appeal was made by the Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability.

To the female prisoners, the donation was centred on assuaging the sufferings of female inmates particularly during their menstrual period, and the need to keep personal hygiene.

Melcom again donated home appliances and cooking utensils to the Oceans Tv (Oceans Broadcasting) towards their forthcoming Mothers Day Celebration, whereas, Mr Felix Kwakye, a KNUST medical student received items and a cheque for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Mr Dennis Adutwum, Programmes Director at Kokookro Charities (Kwame Sefa Kayi Foundation), on behalf of the Foundation, received an LG home theatre.

In another development, a medical student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) also received support from Melcom Group.

Mr Godwin Avenorgbo, the Communications Director, Melcom Group of Companies, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the Group’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) focused on children, education and health, where it supported institutions and individuals in need.

“We live in a community, our services are patronised by people who live in these communities and so we must invest back,” he added.

Mr Avenorgbo noted that this year Melcom added prisons to its CSR support programme and would continue to support them; as they were in dire need of help, as such, this would satisfy their basic needs.

He said Kokookro Charities also had a brilliant idea of providing incubators to save the lives of newly born babies; hence it was appropriate to contribute.

The Director of Communications said a medical student from KNUST who had challenges with regard to buying books and other basic needs received an urgent support Melcom.

He said Mothers Day, which falls on May 14, was a call to all to honour mothers; stating that there were mothers who were going to be awarded and as such, Melcom donated home appliances and cooking utensils to the organisers of the event.

Mr Avenorgbo said this was a continuing project and that their doors were opened to individuals and institution.

He said Melcom received a number of applications for support; however, the company did its best to vet the requests and supported the ones that were in line with its CSR.

Mr William Nyarko, Executive Director for Africa Centre for International Law and Accountability who received the items on behalf of Sekondi Prison, expressed gratitude to Melcom for responding to their request.

Mr Nyarko said some prisoners in the country had been remanded for several years without trial, and as part of their initiative, they were working to protect the rights of such prisoners, and provide legal representation for those who could not afford.

The Executive Director said among the organisation’s objectives was to ensure that convicts serving their sentences acquire skills, which they could use to earn a living when they were done serving their jail term.