Upper West Prisons Service hold colourful pull out ceremony for ADP Joseph Miyella

The Ghana Prison Service in the Upper West Region with the support of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) on Friday organised a colourful pull out ceremony for its retired Commander, Assistant Director of Prisons (ADP) Joseph Miyella after 21 years of dedicated service.

The ceremony which was held at the forecourt of the Wa Central Prison and saw the presence of commanders and personnel of other Security services and REGSEC members marked the official retirement of the Commander from the prison service.

The Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih eulogising the retired Commander, described him as a dedicated personnel of the service who distinguished himself amongst his colleagues.

He stated that his exit from the service would create a huge gap in the REGSEC but was confident that a good replacement would be brought to fill in the gap.

“Security is a shared responsibility so we all have roles to play hence we welcome your rich contribution as a former member of REGSEC”, he told the retired Commander.

ADP Miyella who was enlisted into the service in 2002 and assumed responsibility as the Regional Commander on October 21, 2022, described his service to the Region as a sucess.

He said in order to meet the feeding needs of inmates, he supervised the creation of three vegetable gardens and also advised families and relatives of inmates to bring raw foodstuff to their relations in order to support regular feeding.

He mentioned that a marketing team was instituted under his tutelage to solicit for support from benevolent individuals, groups and organisations to enhance the wellbeing of the prison inmates.

ADP Miyella who was the first prison officer in the country to be deployed to the United Nations MIssions in Haiti in the Carribeans brought his experience to bear in managing the inmates by liaising with the Narcotics Control commission to hold weekly sensitisation meetings with inmates on drug abuse and addiction.

Through his initiative, he mentioned that support was garnered from a non governmental organisation, Sahara Africa for Change for the construction of two more cells to ease congestion at the prison.

He commended various stakeholders for supporting his time in office and recommended that same support was rendered his predecessor.

Citations and gifts were presented to the retired Commander from both retired and active personnel of the service as well as REGSEC and relations. Significant among them was a butchered dog presented to the Commander by the Dagaaba community of the service in the region as a token of their appreciation to the Commander.

FROM LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, WA