Profile
DSP Samuel Opoku, the man at the forefront of ‘The Youth and Crime Campaign’ of Ghana Prisons
DSP Samuel kofi Opoku interacting with the students
“The development of the youth must be very crucial to every country. It is the reason why every government must consider policies to protect them because they represent the future. They are the generation to take over from older ones.”
The above quote represents the view of a vibrant young man, Mr Samuel Kofi Opoku, a Deputy Superintendent of Prisons (DSP) of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS).
DSP Opoku is stationed at the Service’s Headquarters at Cantonment and has become the face of the ‘The Youth and Crime Campaign,’ an initiative of the Ghana Prisons Service.
With his passion for youth development, DSP Opoku has welcomed this responsibility thrown at him by his superiors and is wholeheartedly committed to it.
The ‘The Youth and Crime Campaign,’ seeks to address the cause of the youth’s involvement in crime and also, contribute in reducing their involvement in crime.
It appeared defunct as it witnessed little or no activity but recent effort by the Service has breathed life into the campaign and seem to be transforming the lives of the youth in schools, churches and the GPS.
DSP Opoku’s association with the project started after joining the Service in January 2017. He was invited by a Charismatic Church at Kasoa in the Central region to have a talk with the members about the work of the GPS.
What was supposed to last for 30 minutes was stretched for over three hours.
After that, he felt the ignorance of the youth regarding some of the crimes around them and life in and after prison.
The outcome motivated him to accept the challenge of the campaign powered by the Public Relations Unit of the Service in 2022.
“We visit schools, churches and educate them about crimes, juvenile detention and the Juvenile Justice system in the country. Among the schools and churches visited were Labone Senior High School, Nugs Career Fairs, Rangoon Basic School, Kinbu Secondary School, Presbyterian Church Osu, and Mampong School for the Deaf.
Challenges
In all of these, language appear to be the biggest challenge faced by the campaign team because some of the groups or individuals encountered who were not conversant with the English language, had to be attended to differently in other languages.
“That notwithstanding, we are able to educate children about crime and its consequences on individuals whether young or old. That has gone a long way to reduce the child involvement in crime stories.”
It is the wish of DSP Opoku that they would be able to cover a lot of remote areas to benefit from the laudable initiative.
And in all of these, he hailed the impact of the Director General of the GPS, Mr. Isaac Kofi Egyiri, and Prisons Directorate for their immense support over the years for championing this course. And also Dr. Vladmir Antwi Danso for encouraging and supporting financially to the Prisons Service.
The campaign falls in line with the Ghana Prison Service’s mandate for reformation and integration into the society. This is done by taking inmates through various skills training at the classrooms at the various prison centres.
But one important thing the campaign has lacked is corporate support.
In his view, it was important for the corporate sector especially to support the campaign to reduce crime among the youngsters to create a crime-free environment for businesses to thrive.
Passion
Before joining the GPS, he had stints with Radio Windybay in Winneba in the Central Region as a student news anchor. He also worked as a talk show host and producer, Editor for the Profile newspaper, Reporter and Producer at Channel R, Correspondent for the Ghanaian Observer and Daily Guide newspapers.
He taught English language and Literature at the Aggrey Memorial Senior High School in Cape Coast, Mercy Islamic Senior High School and St. Dominic Senior High School in Kwahu- Pepease.
He later coached the female basketball team of the Aggrey Memorial Senior High School to win their first ever trophy at the 2013 edition of the Sprite Ball Competition.
Life
DSP Opoku started his primary school education at the Presec Staff School (Legon) and continued to Tema Senior High School where he studied General Arts.
He holds a Diploma in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Public Relations) from the University of Media Arts and Communication (UNIMAC) formerly Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Education, Winneba, Certificate in Radio Broadcasting, Certificate in Advance Monitoring and Evaluation from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.
Work
He was enlisted into the Prison Service in January, 2017 as a Cadet Officer and commissioned as an Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP) on March 23, 2018 after 18months of paramilitary training at the Prison Officers Training School in Accra.
He first worked at the Monitoring, Research and Evaluation office at the Prisons Headquarters but was transferred in February 2019 to the Commercial Unit at the Prisons Headquarters and in May 2020 to the Public Relations Unit at the Prisons Headquarters.
After a hard day’s work, DSP Opoku relaxes by listening to music, writing and playing basketball.
He is the last among three siblings to Mr. William Freeman Opoku and Madam Veronica Naana Essien from Akim- Oda in the Eastern region.
Advice
DSP Opoku advised the youth to stay focused to realize their dreams by taking their studies very serious to become responsible and productive citizens.
The Ghana Prisons Service as a key stakeholder of the Criminal Justice System of Ghana contributes to the maintenance of internal security by maintaining an efficient, humane, and safe reformatory penal system operated within the laws of Ghana.
The Service is committed to undertaking the safe custody, humane treatment, reformation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of inmates to make them responsible, productive, and law-abiding citizens to ensure public safety.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie