HISTORY OF ACSA
ACSA owes its existence to the efforts of early Corrections and Prisons Administrators on the continent dating back to the 1930s. The first Conference of Commissioners of Prisons on the African soil was held in Mombasa, Kenya in 1941 to discuss issues pertaining to prisons. This was followed by another meeting in 1942 which took place in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 1945 another meeting of Commissioners took place in Kampala, Uganda and was convened by an organization called the Conference of Commissioners for East and Central Africa (CESCA). Among other countries in attendance from Central Africa was the then Nyasaland (Malawi) and Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).
A meeting held in 1953 was to be the last for a long time until 1993 when efforts to revive the African Commissioners Conference resulted in the formation of the Conference for Eastern, Southern and Central African Heads of Correctional Services Association in Krugersdorp, South Africa.
In 1999, members of CESCA resolved the need for a change of approach from a conference-based association to one that would represent the objectives, needs and expectations of correctional services on the Continent. The aforementioned need was re-echoed in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2005.
In 2006 in Durban, South Africa, the Plan of Action towards the establishment of the African Correctional Services Association was launched. It had long been the desire of African Correctional and Prison Services to have an organization that was truly representative of who they were and what they want to achieve.
The 8th CESCA Conference was held in Swaziland in 2007, a new constitution was adopted paving the way for the formation of All African Correctional Services Association (AACSA) and the name was later changed to African Correctional Services Association (ACSA).
In August 2008, the inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Council for ACSA Champions (MINCAC) was held in South Africa with the aim of updating the political leadership of corrections and prisons on the process towards establishing ACSA. The meeting also resolved to establish an ACSA Council of Ministers.
The headquarters of ACSA was transferred from South Africa to Ghana in October, 2015 when Ghana offered to host the Permanent Secretariat of the Association with the appointment of a Principal Officer from Ghana whose function is to undertake the day to day executive and administrative functions of the Association.
ACSA strives to take center stage in advancing penal reform and strategically positioning corrections and prisons for resource mobilization and support.
The organizational structure of ACSA’s is made up of the ministerial consultative forum that comprises the minister responsible for corrections in the various countries, the Core member Council made up of all Heads of corrections/prisons in Africa, the Executive Committee, which is comprised of Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, Vice Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Treasurer and five Regional Vice Chairpersons. In addition to the Executive Committee, the ACSA is comprised of the Principal Officer who is charged with overseeing the implementation of its strategy. Currently ACSA has 30 Member States affiliated to it.