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By Edward Graham Sebbie
The President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has in accordance with Article 72(1), of the 1992 Constitution, in consultation with the Council of State and by the recommendation of the Prisons Service Council, granted amnesty to Nine Hundred and Ninety Eight prisoners (998) out of the recommended One Thousand and Fourteen (1,014).
The latest constitutional fulfilment communicated in a statement signed by the presidential spokesperson, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, on Monday, August 18, 2025, is the first of such action performed by the president since his return to the presidency some eight months ago.
Here are the categories of convicts who have been affected by the pardon. 787 being first time offenders, 87 on death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment, 52 life sentence to be commuted to 20 years definite term, 33 seriously ill, 36 persons are over seventy years regardless of their offences, 2 nursing mothers and 2 by way of petition.
The statement was released a few hours after the president had departed the shores of Ghana to Japan and Singapore. His travel coincides with that of the Acting Chief Justice, Justice Paul Baffor-Bonnie, who has also left Ghana on Monday August 18, 2025, tasking the next senior most justice of the superior court, Justice Gabriel Pwamang, to act until he returns on Thursday August 18, 2025.
