The outgoing Commanding Officer of the Prisons Headquarters, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Edmund Boye Odonkor has advised prison officers to exhibit professionalism in executing their duties and remain disciplined as officers at all times, no matter the circumstances.
“We have officers with their wives, husbands and children also in this Service. Most of them tend to carry their roles at home to the workplace which should not be entertained. When an officer violates any of the Service’s rules, he should be sanctioned or disciplined appropriately without any interference from his spouse, father or mother who happens to be in authority,” he stressed.
DDP Odonkor gave the advice at a pull-out ceremony held in his honour as part of activities to mark the commencement of his compulsory retirement from the Ghana Prisons Service.
The ceremony which took place last Friday, at the Prisons Interdenominational Church witnessed great attendance of the Prisons Directorate, former Directors, and Senior and Junior officers across the country.
DDP Boye Odonkor expressed his gratitude to God, the Prisons Directorate and the staff of the Service for their support and role in ensuring the welfare, reformation and rehabilitation of inmates, and the firm support given him over the years.
DDP Odonkor joined the 81st recruits’ course on April, 1982, and passed out on 9th October, 1982. He was adjudged the best-all-round recruit officer, first in order of merit and best in both drill and physical training.
After fifteen years of dedicated service and hard work as a junior officer on the rank of a Chief Officer, DDP Boye Odonkor passed the officer cadet entrance examination in 1996 and joined the officer cadet course intake fourteen/14. By dint of hard work and exceptional performance during the training, his efforts were crowned with six awards namely, the subject-prize for Criminology, Corrections Management, Penal Law, Management, Penal Statistics and ultimately, the Academic Cane for being first in order of merit.
He was very instrumental when it comes to sports. As part of his achievements, he coached the Prisons male volleyball team to win Silver Medal in their 1st ever Zone ‘3’ club championship held in Bamako, Mali, in 2012, and coached the Prisons male volleyball team to win Gold medal in the Security Services Sports Association (SESSA) Games held in 2009.
He coached the Prisons female volleyball team to win the West Africa zone ‘3’ club championship, played an active role in the construction of a multi-purpose court at the Nsawam Medium Security prison.
Prior to his appointment as the Commanding Officer of the Prisons Headquarters, he was the Second-In-Command of the Nsawam Medium Security prison (NMSP). He also served as the Officer-In-Charge of Reception Office at the NMSP, Sports OIC and Budget Officer at Prisons Headquarters.
Mr. Edmund Odonkor received three medals in recognition of his hard work and commendable service to Mother Ghana. They include: Long Service and Good Conduct Award Medal (Prisons Division), June 4th Revolution Medal and Golden Jubilee Medal.
It is worth mentioning that, DDP Boye Odonkor was recruited as a volleyball player. Due to his outstanding performance, it was not surprising when in 1988, he was awarded full colours as an excellent performer in Volleyball by the University of Ghana Amalgamated clubs. As a coach, he distinguished himself so well that he became if not the best, one of the best volleyball coaches in the country.
He was honoured with a citation for meritoriously serving the Service for Forty-one (41) years, and Twenty-four (24) days without any blemish.
Present at the ceremony were the Director-General of Prisons, Mr. Isaac Kofi Egyir; the Deputy Director-General in charge of Finance and Administration, Mrs. Josephine Fredua-Agyemang; Director of Prisons (DOP) in charge of Welfare and Human Resource Development, Mr. Francis Omane Addo; the DOP in charge of Technical and Services, Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie, the DOP in charge of Health, Mr. Samuel Adjei-Attah and DOP in charge of Agriculture, Mr. Hanson Adu-Awuku.
Others were the Eastern Regional Commander, DDP Samuel Owusu Amponsah; the Chief Legal Officer of the Service, DDP Gloria Essandoh; Directors of Prisons (DOP), Leopold Ansah (Rtd), DOP Stephen Cofie (Rtd) and DOP Israel Tsegah (rtd) among others.
