Africa-Press – Gambia. Continuing their annual humanitarian support, The Pipeline Mosque Foundation has donated foodstuffs worth over D486,650.00 to inmates at Mile 2, Jeshwang and Janjangbureh prisons.
The presentation was held on Monday at the Gambia Prison Service administrative head office at Mile 2 in Banjul.
The items donated included 36 50kg bags of sugar, 430 boxes of tea bags, seven bags of milk powder and 120 cartons of dates. The donation was to contribute to the daily Iftar at the prisons and it Inmates.
Presenting the items, foundation vice president, Alhaji Badou Faye, explained that this is the sixteenth year the Pipeline Mosque Foundation has been supporting the Gambia Prisons Services during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan by donating nutritional provisions for the inmates, majority of whom are Muslims who observed fasting.
Mr Faye said the foundation made the donation through the support of its patrons, donors and philanthropic institutions.
VP Faye urged the inmates to regard the event of Ramadan as an opportunity to reset their moral compass noting that human beings are bound to err.
“Let us remember the teachings of the Holy Qur’an and the example of the Prophet Yunus. When he committed a sin and made a mistake, Allah had punished him. He was swallowed by a whale and could have died, but repented genuinely, and on that basis, Allah pardoned him, and delivered him from the belly of the whale. You as wardens have to teach inmates that they are here because of the crimes that they have made, but that it’s not too late in life, and that if they genuinely repent and get out of these situations, they will be accepted as decent human beings in society. It is important for the imams and prison officers to inculcate this message in the inmates,” he preached.
Mr said the ultimate aim of incarceration is rehabilitation, not punishment.
He expressed his profound gratitude to the prison officers for using the donated materials as intended.
In receiving the food items, Ansumana Manneh, director general of the Gambia Prison Service, said the Pipeline Mosque Foundation is among the leading donors to the prisons. He explained that before Pipeline Mosque Foundation’s initiative, iftar was solely provided by the government but now many institutions and individuals give help.
He said helping the prisons is a worthy cause as inmates are vulnerable and deserving recipients. He concluded by saying the donated foodstuff would ease feeding and enhance the quality of life of the prisoners.
