Stepping Into A Father’s Shoes

The Ghana Prisons Service Officers graduation ceremony (Intake 32) held recently in Accra, was not only colourful and impressive by all standards, but also came with an emotional attachment.

Even though there were respected personalities like Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman (Vice President of Ghana) and Mrs. Patience Baffoe-Bonnie (Director-General of Prisons), who were there specifically to Grace the occasion; one unique observation made by The New Publisher Newspaper at the event was the fact that the gathering could well be described as a baton changer from one epoch to another in the life of a particular family.

Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP) Alfred Tsiatey Totimeh, one of the graduates at the December 2, 2025 passing out ceremony, was actually stepping into the shoes of his biological father, Retired Chief Superintendent of Prisons Frederick T. Totimeh, who also went through a similar rigorous training process at the same venue some three decades earlier.

Speaking to yours truly after the parade, the seemingly elated young officer said he was aware of the standards ‘the old boy’ had set while in the service and promised to work harder to raise the bar even higher.

For his part, the father noted, after a sober reflection, that even though he found it significant that ASP Alfred Totimeh was virtually stepping into his shoes, he never dreamt it would happen so soon. He saw the development as more of a divine arrangement than a mere historical coincidence.

The intake of 265 officers, comprising 162 males and 103 females, is seen as a radical push of the service towards a more humane correctional institution with the focus on preparing the officers to fit into modern-day security and rehabilitation.

All the 265 men and women were commissioned into the Senior Officer Corps as Assistant Superintendents of Prisons. Discipline, dedication and sense of duty are some of the the hallmarks that come with such positions.

Government is currently pursuing amnesty programmes to decongest Ghana’s overcrowded prisons and enhance conditions in cells across the country.

Meanwhile, the nation is keenly awaiting the day when “incarceration will be turned into an opportunity for skill building and innovation”, as promised by Vice President Opoku-Agyeman at the graduation ceremony.

Story compiled by: Nene Bennett Akuaku, Accra