Kwesi Pratt Jr, the Veteran broadcaster and Pan-Africanist, has revealed that he has been in prison about eighteen times.
According to Kwesi Pratt, he has spent nights in the Akuse Prison, Navrongo Prison, Tamale Prison, and Usher Fort Prison.
He further added that he has also been detained at the Police Headquarters and the cells of the Bureau of National Investigation a couple of times.
Kwesi Pratt disclosed that the longest period he has spent behind bars is six months.
Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey on March 23, Kwesi Pratt Jr. disclosed, “The last time we sat down and counted, I’ve been to prison 18 times. I have been in the guard room in what is known as Gonja Barracks twice. I have been detained at the police headquarters a couple of times, and at Bureau of National Investigation cells a couple of times.”
“I’ve been detained at the Usher Fort Prison, I’ve been detained at the Akuse Prisons, I’ve been detained at the Navrongo Prison, Tamale Prison and several police cells,” he disclosed.
Kwesi Pratt further added, “There was one time I was told why I’ve been arrested, and I was actually interrogated, and that was once. This was in 1992 or 1993. I was arrested with Professor Adu Boahen, and we were charged with obstruction of justice”.
Also, Kwesi Pratt revealed that the Akuse Prison was his most difficult experience across the prisons, adding that food was served in a chamber pot.
According to Kwesi Pratt, in prison, there was a standard meal called Manpower and Zontoli.
“One of my most horrible experiences was in Akuse Prison, where they served the food in a chamber pot. There is what they call Manpower and Zontoli, which was standard. The Manpower was the soup, and this soup, if you look at it, you could see the few ingredients that were used to prepare it at the bottom; it was transparent. The Zontoli is supposed to be banku, but it was as hard as wood,” he added.
In related news, Retired Major General Edwin Kwamina Sam has recounted his experience in the condemned cells of Nsawam prison after the June 4th Uprising.
History tells us that the 1979 uprising was a dramatic turning point in Ghana’s political and military history, with late Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings staging a coup to overthrow the then-President Dr Hilla Limann’s government.
The June 4th Uprising caused significant mayhem within the military, resulting in the detention of several officers, both high-ranking and junior, by the Rawlings regime.
Retired Major General Edwin Kwamina Sam was one of the officers detained during this period.
He recounted the harsh conditions he and other military personnel endured in the aftermath of the uprising.
According to him, he spent two days at the Nsawam prison where they were served Gari, kako and raw pepper.
Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, Major General Kwamina Sam (Rtd) remembered the cruel treatment that prisoners were subjected to during their confinement.
He stated, “I stayed in Nsawam for two days. This was a condemned cell in Nsawam. There were two bunk beds, with one sleeping on top of the other. Four of us were placed in a room together with our thunderbox [latrine]. We arrived around 5 or 6 PM, and they said the food had already been served. What they gave us was Gari and Kako [salted fish and raw pepper].”
“Unfortunately, the next morning, the warden came in and asked who caused the mess. They then asked the personnel to clean up the mess themselves. It was a humiliating experience,” Major General Sam recounted.
He further added that the next day the meal served at the time was “koko” [porridge] without sugar, accompanied by five days’ bread.
“It was so hard that we had to put salt in it just to make it edible,” he said.
He further narrated, “The prison stores had been closed, so those who arrived earlier received mattresses for the beds. However, those who came later, including Major General Sam, were forced to sleep on hard springs without any mattress”.
“Can you imagine lying on a spring bed? It was uncomfortable, but I slept like a baby because it didn’t even feel like I was on it without a mattress,” he said.
He further detailed that for Nsawam, anything one wants if they had money, they could get anything they wanted.
“If you wanted Black Label whisky or corned beef, you could get it,” he added.
Watch the video below:
I have been to PRISON 18 TIMES – Kwesi Pratt Jnr.
— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) March 23, 2026
Full interview here https://t.co/UK7SO9ch86#KafuiDeyInterviews pic.twitter.com/hQ8PcKEhGE