A Chronicle of The Gambia Prison System

Authors : Ousainou LOUM, Akpojevbe OMASANJUWA

Pages : 758-789

Doi:10.21551/jhf.928700

View : 10 | Download : 7

Publication Date : 2021-06-22

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The article focuses on prisons in The Gambia since 1821 when the first prison was opened. Through qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources, the chronology of the prisons system was traced and findings shows that the ramshackle condition of the facilities has no resemblance with those in Britain, especially Pentonville Prison of 1842 which is the standard prison in Britain and some of her colonies. Several reasons caused the neglect the institution has suffered since the colonial era. Apart from the shoestring budgetary allocations to the prisons, another factor among others is the ulterior motives of the colonial and post-colonial administrators using the facilities to keep potential mischief makers at bay by neglecting the penological principles governing prison administration. This offered the scanty European population and their successors protection from suspected mischief-makers, a tactic interpreted as being tough on crime. The article recommended the phasing out of the prison system. In its place, an educational institution under the education ministry should replace the prisons.
Keywords : Prison, The Gambia, Colonial Rule, Penology, Human Righrs