The Ghana Prisons Service has been cited for failing to pay hundreds of inmates allowances they earned while working on the Clean Ghana Project, according to an audit by the Auditor-General.

The audit, which examined the implementation of the Inmates Support Programme between January 2020 and May 2025, found that inmates were entitled to a total of GHS277,625 in motivation allowances for work carried out under an agreement between the Ghana Prisons Service and Zoomlion Ghana Limited.

Instead of paying the inmates, the Prisons Service spent some of the money on unrelated items, including a funeral donation to Zoomlion’s Chief Executive Officer, the purchase of water for a United Nations Day celebration, repairs to a bus, day-old chicks, swivel chairs and a printer toner.

The inmates were engaged under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Ghana Prisons Service and Zoomlion in March 2019 and renewed the following year. Under the agreement, Zoomlion was to provide equipment and transport for cleaning exercises, while the Prisons Service supplied inmates and prison officers.

In addition to paying the Prisons Service a labour fee, Zoomlion agreed to pay inmates daily motivation and feeding allowances. The motivation allowance was GHS5 per inmate per day in 2019, increased to GHS10 in 2020 and GHS20 in 2023.

According to the audit, Zoomlion paid the full GHS277,625 into the Ghana Prisons Service’s Commercial Venture Account for onward payment to inmates. However, only part of the money reached them. The report found that GHS55,000 had been diverted to other expenditure unrelated to the project.

The audit also found that inmates received less than the feeding allowance provided for under the agreement.

Between 2019 and 2023, Zoomlion paid GHS231,494 in feeding allowances. The company initially paid eight cedis per inmate per day before increasing the amount to GHS10.

However, the Prisons Service deducted three cedis from each inmate’s daily feeding allowance throughout the period, while prison officers escorting the inmates received their allowances in full.

The deducted funds were reportedly used to buy drinking water and maintain tools used on the project.

However, auditors said the Prisons Service could not provide evidence that water had been purchased. They also found that inmates had not been informed of the allowances they were entitled to under the agreement.

The report further found that Zoomlion often failed to make weekly payments as required under the MoU.

As a result, some inmates completed their sentences and were released before receiving the allowances they had earned.

At James Camp Prison in Accra alone, 158 inmates who participated in the Clean Ghana Project were released between January 2024 and May 2025 without receiving their motivation allowances.

The audit also found that payment for work carried out between 1 July and 12 September 2024 was not received until 29 November 2024, by which time some of the inmates had already been discharged, having served their prison sentences.

The Auditor-General concluded that weak financial controls and the absence of clear procedures for managing inmates’ allowances undermined the programme’s objective of supporting rehabilitation. It said the failures denied inmates money that could have helped meet their basic needs in custody and provided savings to support their reintegration into society after their release.

The Fourth Estate requested data from the Ghana Prisons Service on funds released to inmates as motivation allowances. In response, the Service stated that it did not have the requested records. We subsequently wrote to the Service again, requesting an interview to seek clarification on the matter. However, after one month, the Public Relations Officer of the Service responded that it was still working on our request.

At the time of publication, the Ghana Prisons Service had still not responded to our interview request, not even when follow-up calls were made to the PRO.