It is not uncommon to hear stories of people meeting and completely changing the lives of others they actually barely know. These kinds of stories are rarely told of the help extending to the family of the deprived individual, especially when the circumstances under which this benefactor was met is rather bizarre.
Twenty-four-year-old Rosemary Addo, daughter of Ghana’s Medium Security prison (Nsawam prison) inmate, Ibrahim Dauda is currently pursuing a master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Illinois in the United States of America thanks to the very generous support of Mrs Sarah Mary Asante. Rosemary is very likely to continue her studies with a PhD at the same university, due to her excellent results.
Mrs Asante is a lawyer and restaurateur in Ghana who has made it one of her life’s missions to support inmates of prisons in Ghana. The encounter between Mrs Asante and Ibrahim Dauda which now benefits his only daughter did not start on a good note.
Speaking to the Mirror, a leading weekend newspaper in Ghana, Sarah Mary Asante narrates how she met Ibrahim Dauda. Ibrahim, who is still serving a 60-year sentence for car snatching tried to defraud the attorney even from prison. He placed a scam call popularly known as a ‘419 call’ to the lawyer but the latter immediately caught on to his game but continued to engage him until he came clean.
Ibrahim explained how he was trying to support his bright daughter who was studying Chemistry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNUST) – a public university in Ghana focused on science and Technology. Ibrahim who had no support was barely doing anything and everything possible to see his girl through school.
Mrs Asante, however, did not believe him and asked that his daughter call her. That call started what has now become the beautiful relationship between both parties and has culminated in Miss Addo’s study abroad. The unlikely alliance between the prisoner and the lawyer led the latter to take on the responsibility for Miss Addo’s education at KNUST and later found support for the young lady to pursue her study abroad.
Both father and daughter are eternally grateful to the institution which granted Rosemary the scholarship and virtually worship Mrs Asante, who paid for Miss Addo’s ticket and has been giving Rosemary a living allowance for a year and a half since she has been in the university.
A few days ago, Ibrahim had the opportunity to speak to his daughter via a WhatsApp video call on Mrs Asante’s phone when she visited him in prison. The first question Rosemary asked was: ‘Daddy, are you out?’ The obviously overwhelmed father could say nothing but shake his head indicating the negative.
Ibrahim is not the only inmate Mrs Asante has supported. She is a regular visitor to the Nsawam Medium Security Prison where she helps the inmates in many ways. Ten years ago, when she started a project at that prison, her initial visits earned her sleepless nights.
According to Mrs Asante, she could barely keep her eyes shut at night every time she visited the prisons and heard the chilling stories of the inmates. This led her to start the Fair Justice Initiative (FJI), a non-governmental organisation. During her formative years, Sarah Mary was known for being assertive, standing up for her rights and could not countenance cheating in any form. It came as no surprise, therefore, to her parents when she chose the legal profession.
You’re likely to find Mrs Asante defending people on a pro bono basis simply because she wants to give them a fighting chance with the law. Speaking about her impact and contribution to society, Mrs Asante said, ‘I believe my purpose in life is to help others and I feel fulfilled when I do so. I am particularly happy about Miss Addo because she is such a hardworking girl who is not abusing the chance she has been given and is making a lot of progress. I am so eager to do more.’
She has one more dream to fulfil and this is to build a halfway house where prisoners or the mentally challenged can stay aster they leave prison or the hospitals and can start life afresh from there.
Her passion to do more for these inmates became more intense by the day and she, therefore, founded Fair Justice Initiative (FJI) while at the Ampem Chambers (Barristers and Solicitors), which became the chamber’s corporate social responsibility project.
The desire to help people and FJI is what has made Mrs Asante a friend of inmates at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison.
The NGO aims at combating discrimination and prejudice against current and former inmates, ensuring equal access to effective legal representation and improving the conditions of confinement in Ghanaian prisons.
It has three areas of operation: Advocacy, Legal Services and Quality of Life and Vocation.
Advocacy
Fair Justice Initiative (FJI) advocates greater accountability within the country’s criminal justice system and the removal of barriers to fair justice faced by those lacking in economic, educational and social resources.
It works with the government and prison service to bring about the positive policy change and advocate in particular for the abolition of the death penalty.
FIJ started by Mrs Asanted advocates greater accountability within the country’s criminal justice system and the removal of barriers to fair justice faced by those lacking in economic, educational and social resources.
It works with the government and prison service to bring about the positive policy change and advocate in particular for the abolition of the death penalty.
Legal Services
FJI seeks to improve understanding of the judicial system and individual rights by providing high-quality legal advice and representation for the socially and economically marginalised at all stages of their interaction with the criminal justice system.
It, therefore, holds legal aid clinics at the Nsawam Prison to provide an opportunity to review individual case files, an understanding of their legal cases and to enable the making of informed choices.
Quality of Life and Vocation
FJI also provides care packages containing basic requirements for a humane existence and financially assists with medical support that may otherwise be inaccessible to individuals within a prison setting.
It also collaborates with local artists, academics and business entrepreneurs to deliver skills workshops in an otherwise inaccessible environment.
