Ken Kuranchie Released From Prison

Kenneth Adjei Kuranchie, Editor of the Daily Searchlight newspaper has been released from prison. According to him, he was released at around 5:30am without the welcoming of his family members. Speaking in an interview with Kwami Sefa-Kayi on Peace FM's flagship morning show programme �Kokrokoo�, Ken Kuranchie said the prison officials took him to his office at Pig Farm in Accra upon his request. He narrated that he was told he was being released by the Prison officers and that they were taking me home, "but I told them I had a few things to do...I asked them to take me to the office and I thanked them for the transportation,� he said. He was denied access to make a telephone call to his family members when he was being released, though he requested for it. According to him, he was able to make a call to his family members when he got to his office at Pig Farm, a suburb in Accra. Explaining his ordeal especially when he was being moved from one prison to the other, he told Kwami Sefa-Kayi that it was frightening at the beginning. "It is not comfortable moving around particularly if it is not at your will...but I think it is good to concentrate on the future. "When we got to the Nsawam Prison,we were given to some of the established prisoners and were taken to the cells...there was a very good welcome from the boys there and I took my bath after then immediately they found me a place and I started sleeping. "..At dawn they called us and told us they were taking us to a safer place...no proper reason was ascribed for the decision to move me there," he told Peace FM. He indicated that there is a lot to be done about the prison system in the country because the condition of the inmates is not humane. �I think it has been a valuable experience. If I was offered the option to pay and spare myself from going to prison, I would have begged people to pay and avoid the experience. Now that I have been there and back, I think one should pray for the opportunity of visiting places like that...there is no available space; the condition is worse than slavery�� he added. Ken Kuranchie was found guilty of criminal contempt by the Supreme Court and sentenced to ten days imprisonment for publishing an editorial deemed as contemptuous. He was subsequently jailed along with a member of the Communication team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Stephen Atubiga.