The Death Penalty Project UK has commended the Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, and Parliament for their roles in the repeal of the death penalty from Ghana’s statute books.
It will be recalled that the Parliament of Ghana on Tuesday (25 July) passed the Criminal and Other Offenses (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and Armed Forces (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to substitute life imprisonment for the death penalty.
These amendments which have been described globally by Human Rights watchers as historic were proposed by a private member who is a Human Rights and Public Interest Lawyer and Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
Prior to the amendments, the proposal had received widespread support from key stakeholders including the President of the Republic of Ghana, the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court, The Ghana Armed Forces, the Police and Prison Services, Religious Organisations, Civil Society Organisations, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and the Diplomatic Community.
During a visit to Parliament, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Project UK, Saul Lehrfreund, said “As a Project, we will like to thank the Parliament of Ghana and especially Rt. Hon. Speaker for his historic leadership and guidance without which Parliament may not have been able to take these bold steps.”
The passage of the Bills forms part of efforts by the 8th Parliament to ensure the realization of a free, open, prosperous, inclusive, and secure society, where individual rights and freedoms and the dignity of All persons are truly respected and guaranteed as enshrined in Article 15 of the 1992 Constitution.
Following the passage of the Bills, Ghana has now become the 29th African country to abolish the death Penalty from its statute books for ordinary offenses following neighbours including Sierra Leone, Zambia, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Equatorial Guinea, among others.