With this decision, Accra becomes the 29th African nation to abolish the death penalty.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo rubber-stamped two legislation that would have converted all death sentences into life sentences, which were adopted by Parliament in Accra in July. Ghana is now the newest nation in Africa to abolish the death penalty.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) party’s Francis-Xavier Sosu, the bill’s sponsor, asserts that the change in the law will result in a freer and more “open, prosperous, inclusive, and secure society” in Ghana, a country with a population of more than 32 million.
Last month, he said that “prisoners on death row woke up believing this would be their last day on earth. They were no longer psychologically human, making them resemble the living dead.
Previously, the country’s mandatory death penalty applied to all murder convictions. There are now 170 males and six women on death row in Ghana. Now their sentences will immediately be upgraded to life in prison.
The measures were first authorised by Ghana’s parliament on July 25 and then on August 2 by the president’s office, according to local media. The plan has gained broad support from influential political figures prior to the modification, which calls for a change to Ghana’s constitution.
Surveys have also revealed broad public support in Ghana for the country to become the newest in Africa to abolish the death penalty.
“Abolishing the death penalty shows that we are determined as a society not to be inhumane, uncivil, closed, retrogressive, and dark,” added Sosu. “We all share the conviction that life is sacred and untouchable.”
Ghana is now the 124th nation worldwide and the 29th in Africa to abolish the death sentence. It joins other African countries that have done so recently, such as Sierra Leone, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic, and Equatorial Guinea, all of which will abolish the death penalty starting in 2020.
In Ghana, where the death penalty was also reserved for cases of treason, seven persons were given this punishment last year. The African nation’s authorities have not, however, carried out an execution since 1993.
