As the world marks 10 October – World Day Against the Death Penalty, Ghana stands at a historic crossroad. Our nation has taken bold steps towards ending capital punishment, yet a few crucial measures remain to complete the journey.
For decades, Amnesty International Ghana and our partners have fought tirelessly to end the death penalty. Advocacy began in earnest following the 2010 Constitutional Review Commission’s recommendation to abolish it entirely. Although constitutional reform stalled, civil society persisted — engaging Parliament, the media, and the public through sustained education and legal reform campaigns.
In 2021, the Member of Parliament for Madina, Mr Francis-Xavier Sosu, introduced a Private Member’s Bill to amend Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act and the Armed Forces Act to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment. After years of advocacy, Parliament passed the two amendment bills on 25 July 2023, and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo swiftly assented to one of the bills on 11 August 2023, signalling strong executive support for human rights reform.
The amendments abolished the death penalty for all ordinary crimes, replacing it with life imprisonment — a change that paved the way for the review of sentences for 178 persons who had been languishing on death row at the time. Ghana thus joined the growing number of African nations turning away from state-sanctioned execution.
We commend former President Akufo-Addo for his quick action and moral leadership in signing the bill into law. His responsiveness demonstrated that Ghana’s democracy is capable of delivering humane justice rooted in dignity.
Equally commendable is the recent presidential pardon of 998 prisoners, including the commutation of 87 death sentences to life imprisonment and the reduction of sentences for 51 life-term prisoners. This compassionate step by the current administration underscores Ghana’s growing commitment to restorative justice and rehabilitation over retribution.
Yet, more work remains. The death penalty still exists in Ghana’s Constitution for high treason. Amnesty International Ghana has submitted a memorandum to the Constitutional Review Committee recommending its complete removal. True abolition requires that no law, however symbolic, grants the state the power to take a life.
Additionally, the Office of the Attorney General must take proactive steps to reform the classification of murder charges in Ghana’s justice system. Currently, the law makes little distinction between varying degrees or circumstances of homicide — treating all murder offences as equally culpable and punishable by death (until recently, by mandatory sentence). This one-size-fits-all approach has long denied courts the discretion to consider intent, provocation, or diminished responsibility.
Reclassifying murder into categories such as first-degree, second-degree, or manslaughter — as practised in many jurisdictions — would make the system fairer, reduce wrongful convictions, and ensure proportional sentencing consistent with Ghana’s new abolitionist stance.
To ensure this, Ghana must:
- Amend the Constitution to remove the death penalty entirely.
- Ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, committing to abolition in international law.
- Reform the Criminal Offences Act to classify homicide offences appropriately.
- Review all residual death sentences to ensure they are commuted.
- Continue public education to reinforce the culture of life, dignity, and human rights.
As we commemorate this year’s World Day Against the Death Penalty, we call on the government, Parliament, and the Constitutional Review Committee to finish what Ghana so courageously began — to erase capital punishment from our laws once and for all.
Ghana’s leadership on abolition can inspire the continent. Let this generation be remembered as the one that ended the death penalty, forever affirming that justice must never cost a human life.
The writer is the Country Director of Amnesty International Ghana, a human rights advocate with a focus on gender justice and law reform, and an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty and the protection of the rights of marginalised groups.
By Genevieve Partington
