The board of directors of Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action has held their board meeting. The meeting which had in attendance seven board members and three PRAWA staff was held on the 7th and 8th of May 2013 in Port-Harcourt. The board members are the chairperson, Dr. Gabriel T. Toby, a retired Controller General of Prisons Olusola Ogundipe, Prof. Chiso Okafor, Dr. Chidi Odinkalu, Dr. Fidelis Ndeh-Che, Hajia Fatima Kwaku MFR and Dr. Uju Agomoh, the board secretary and Executive Director of PRAWA.

As part of the activities lined up for the meeting, the board members visited the maximum prison which led to the release of four prisoners. This they said have saved the Federal Government more than N 6,500,000 yearly. The prison management thanked PRAWA and the board members for the kind gesture.

The board also paid a courtesy visit to the Chief Judge of the state who was represented by the Deputy Chief Registrar. The board secretary Dr. Uju Agomoh talked about prevailing issues of Rivers State prisons and also tendered proposal to the Chief Judge, which included introduction and development of a case tracking system, sensitization and capacity development for Judges and Magistrate on effective case management and the establishment of a witness tracking unit in High Court.

Another courtesy visit was paid to Attorney General of the Ministry of Justices of River state with the DPP present. The secretary also tendered a proposal on behalf of the board which included effective witness protection, training and capacity development for staff and the institution as a whole and effective case management system. The Attorney General thanked the board members, while enumerating the achievements of the Judiciary, promised to look into the matters brought forward by the board members.

The board developed and reviewed the policies of the organization. The implementation of projects both old and current were considered and approved. To this effect, board members were assigned responsibilities in various areas and activities of the organization which included the employee manual, activities for PRAWA 20th anniversary, annual plan and budget and also PRAWA’s strategic plan. The board meeting was a monumental success.