Ghanaian entertainment executive Lawrence Nana Asiamah Hanson, alias Bullgod, says Accra does not have enough prison facilities to accommodate people who have been remanded or convicted, raising concerns about the conditions of police holding cells.

Bullgod said the shortage of prison infrastructure is among the reasons Ghana needs to address the conditions in its correctional facilities.

“These are issues about logistics and estate - the prison facility itself. Accra, for instances, doesn't have enough prisons,” he said.

He made the remarks on the Classy Morning Show on Class 91.3 FM, hosted by DJ Slim, while discussing his Adopt A Cell initiative and his experience of police custody.

Bullgod said police holding cells are fundamentally different from prisons.

He explained that a prison is “an institution” where inmates have opportunities to leave their cells to engage in labour, recreation, exercise and educational activities within the facility.

“But as I speak to you now, everybody in a police holding cell, is still inside and does not get to see sunlight,” he said.

He said he had personally spent as long as a month in a police cell and described the experience as having serious health implications.

Bullgod also claimed that he had visited police cells where people had allegedly been held for as long as three years.

“It's unhealthy. The place stinks, it's unkempt, it's very terrible. In a prison, at least, if it is not clean, you get to come out to catch some sunlight, fresh air, stretch your legs, jog,” he contrasted.

“The conditions at the prison are also bad but they are better than the police cells.”

48-hour limit

Bullgod also pointed to the legal limit on detention in police custody, underscoring that the law allows the police to hold a suspect for up to 48 hours, after which the person must either be released or arraigned.

He questioned why people who are presumed innocent should remain in police cells for extended periods.

“If a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, I don't see how come people will be in police cells for three years,” he said.

He argued that the conditions in some police cells treat suspects as though they have already been found guilty.

“So let's change the saying to ‘Presumed guilty until proven innocent’,” he said.

Bullgod said prolonged stays in police cells also have great emotional and mental health implications for detainees and their families.

Why ‘Adopt A Cell’ matters

It is against this background that Bullgod’s Adopt A Cell initiative via his Bullhauz Foundation seeks to improve the conditions in police holding cells.

He said the initiative is intended “to clean up police holding cells, and introduce art into the space.”

“It is to help the mental [health] of inmates,” he emphasised.

Bullgod said art and improvements to the physical environment could help people cope with the conditions while they remain in police custody.

He also stressed that the police themselves face difficult circumstances and should not be blamed for all the challenges associated with holding cells.

He commended the police for their work and said officers often provide significant support to people in their custody, even though they are not obligated to. 

“In many cases, the police are victims themselves. Meanwhile, the kind of things they do to support the inmates is enormous,” he said.

He noted that, unlike the prison system, the police are not mandated to provide food for people held in police cells.

Bullgod's comments place the Adopt A Cell initiative within a wider concern about Ghana's prison infrastructure and the conditions faced by people who remain in police custody while awaiting the next stage of their cases.