BEST NACEM Foundation was established in 2017 by its Founder and Executive Director, Mr. Stephen Nana Afful, and is duly registered and certified under the laws of Ghana with recognition from various Ministries, Departments, Ghana Aids Commission and Legal Aid Commission.

KA MA MI


KA MA MI which literally means ‘speak for me’ is a BEST NACEM FOUNDATION initiative partnered by the Legal Aid Commission. It was established in April 2022 with the aim of alleviating prison overcrowding by going to court to adjudicate remand and pre-trial cases since Article 14(4) of the 1992 Constitution stipulates that, a person who is arrested or detained, but has not received a trial within a ‘reasonable period of time’, is entitled to unconditional release or release subject to conditions necessary for reappearance for judicial proceedings.

HOW THE INITIATIVE WORKS

•      BEST NACEM foundation, a human right NGO who also serves as facilitators for this initiative visits the prisons or the police station with questionnaire form to interview the remand inmates specifically inmates with expired warrant .

•      After the interview, BEST NACEM foundation makes a follow up to the investigators handling the cases of the inmates interviewed or visits with the courts that their cases are pending for their criminal proceedings and charge sheets. “A charge sheet is a court document that details a brief fact of the offence allegedly committed by the accused persons in prisons.

•      The charge sheet is then presented to the lawyers at the Legal Aid Commission, partners of KA MA MI project, for it to be studied for motions to be drafted and filed at the court for the interviewed inmates to be either granted bail, discharged, speed their trials or convicted.

This initiative enjoys the collective efforts of the Judicial Service of Ghana, the Office of the Attorney-General, the Ghana Prisons and Police Service, court bailiff as well as BEST NACEM FOUNDATION (Civil Society body that serve as facilitators).

Congestion has forced prisoners to sleep in very dehumanizing positions in prison cells. It is common for as many as fifty-five (55) inmates to share a cell intended for twelve (12). To amplify the issue of overcrowded prisons and the lengthy pre-trial detention, sometimes detainees serve more time in detention awaiting trial than the actual sentence the crime requires.

Records from Ghana Prisons Service Criminal Records Units states that the total prisoner population at the end of February, 2022 was 13,743 as against the authorized nationwide prison capacity of 9,875 with an overcrowding rate of over 35%.

The situation and the continuous incarceration of some accused persons in prison custody either on remand or wrongly convicted (miscarriage of justice) mostly resulted in the fact that, inmates could either not afford the services of lawyers or had no direct communication with lawyers. This necessitated this initiative “KA MA MI”, which is in partnership and supervised by the Legal Aid Commission and coordinated by the Ghana Prison Services paralegal while being facilitated by the BEST NACEM FOUNDATION.

KA MA MI Impacts:                                                                       

  • KA MA MI has helped reduce a lot of Remand prisoners particularly in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Since its inception, inmates of 102 have been granted bail, 8 have been acquitted and discharged, 28 have been convicted, two have been referred to the psychiatric hospitals, and 42 bail applications have been refused.  (attached are media interviews for evidence)

 

  • KA MA MI has received commendation from the Attorney General Department, Cooperate bodies like Richie Plantation Limited, Delight Pharmacy, Blow Chem (producers of Bel Aquah) and traditional leader’s like Nana Asare Kumi III Chief of Okorase  and Osaberima Attah Dwamena II Chief of Sankubenase for its remarkable efforts in ensuring that the poor and innocent in prison get justice.

 

·         On the first day of the programme at Anyinam Circuit court, six inmates from Osino police station were granted bail. This was a remarkable effort from Lawyer Phidelis Nana Osei Duah, the Eastern Regional Head for Legal Aid Commission.