Ghana prison system needs to be reformed – Gemann shares prison experience

Ghana’s biggest pop star, Geeman, was convicted of the murder of a taxi driver in 1995. After spending fourteen years of his life in prison, there are some concerns he hopes to change in our prison system.

Nana Kwasi Agyemang, aka Geeman, shared some activities ongoing in our prisons that needed to be chacked with Giovani Calebs showbiz 360 show. He said, “There are a lot of people who are in jail right now who do not have to be. Because prison is supposed to be a place of reformation. So after five/six years of keeping somebody in jail, and that person doesn’t reform, then what is the point. Then it means there’s something wrong with the system.”

Geeman reiterated that “Nobody cares about prisoners. So nothing has changed. There are people in there who don’t have to be in there, and they are there.” He gave an example of the terrible structure of our ‘supposed’ rehabilitation system, which he believes is doing society more harm than good.

“ Let me give you an example, somebody smokes one joint of weed. When you are arrested, you are given 10 years. When you go into the prisons, they sell more weed in the prison, than outside. So how have you reformed that person?
So if the person does not reform in the prison, they come out worse than they went in. So there is no convict who is the same. You either come out better or you come out bitter. So then you are bitter against society.”

Geeman also disclosed some mechanics that negated the effects of going through the prison system. He illustrated how more criminals are churned from the system, which is supposed to reform people.

He said, “There is no armed robber who is a first offender because somebody stole a goat, and they gave him six years. And the armed robbers in there will say, hey, are you stupid? Four-legged, six years? Come let us go on a robbery. Then the guy joins them and goes robbery. But if that person was transformed by learning a craft. By learning something then they would come out better. And that is my desire that we would help to reform people and bring them out better.”

In 1995, Nana Akwasi Agyemang, aka Geeman, shot and killed a taxi driver at Dome in Accra – following a disagreement over the taxi fare. The taxi driver had been hired by Nadia, a female friend and actress of Jagger Pee. According to Nadia, the agreed price was 3,000 cedis (now 3p). But the taxi driver insisted it was 4,000 cedis (now 4p). Later the taxi driver came back to collect a patch of sand from a spot where Geman was standing, supposedly for black magic purposes. Geemann got angry, ran into his room and brought out a pistol and shot the taxi driver – after giving a warning shot.

Jagger Pee, present during the confrontation, was alleged to have held the taxi driver from running away. After the court trial, Jaggar Pee received a life sentence, and Geeman was sentenced to death for murder.

Geeman started his jail sentence in January of 1995. He received a presidential pardon from the then outgoing President, John Agyekum Kuffour, on 9th January 2009.