Member of Parliament representing the Madina constituency, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has revealed that President Akufo-Addo supports the Criminal Offences Amendment Act, which aims to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment.

In support of abolishing the death penalty, the Madina MP Francis-Xavier Sosu, while upholding international human rights conventions, said President Akufo-Addo at the UN voted for scrapping the death penalty from the statutes of countries around the world for the first time.

“The president [Nana Akufo-Addo] at the UN voted in favor of the abolishment of the death penalty for the first time, and he has even made public statements in support of the abolishment. It was the president that called for a cross-party approach to passing this bill when stakeholders called on him, and so he fully endorses and supports the position,” he said in a media interaction.

When the amendment bill was discussed in Parliament on Friday, July 14, Members of Parliament found themselves in a state of disagreement, causing division among them. The debate on the bill sparked contrasting opinions and viewpoints among the legislators.

The parliamentary debate on the amendment bill also sparked widespread discussion among the Ghanaian public. Different segments of society expressed varying views on the matter. Some individuals advocated for the complete abolition of the death penalty, citing reasons such as humanitarian concerns and the belief in rehabilitation over punishment.

On the other hand, there were those who argued in favor of retaining the death penalty, emphasizing its potential as a deterrent against heinous crimes and the need for justice to be served.

These contrasting perspectives contributed to a broader conversation among the Ghanaian populace regarding the implications and effectiveness of the death penalty in the country's legal system.

Mr. Sosu emphasised that even though the death penalty has not been used since 1993, a corrupt government could still use it at any time to hunt down its opponents, as in the case of Myanmar.

“The government in 1991 said there were not going to be executions again, but 12 people were executed by firing squad in 1993, and from colonial times till 1993, 37 people were killed.”

“When you take the case of Myanmar, the country had not used the law for 42 years, but it was there on its books and last year when there was a military takeover, they used it against their opponents and gave legal reasons where four leaders were killed, and a hundred others were convicted to death.”

Having carried out its last execution in 1993, Ghana is considered abolitionist in practice, although no official moratorium on execution has been imposed.

The country’s domestic legislation, therefore, still provides for the use of capital punishment for crimes of treason under the Constitution and a series of other crimes, including murder, genocide, treason, and smuggling of gold and diamonds, under the Criminal Code and Other Offences Act.

The Armed Forces Act also allows for the use of the death penalty in cases of treason and mutiny by military personnel in times of war.

Ghanaian judges continue to impose death sentences, mainly in murder cases, despite concerns related to the circumstances under which these trials are carried out and the alleged miscarriages of justice or other violations of the right to a fair trial under Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

According to civil society reports, people condemned to capital punishment are imprisoned in a separate wing for males and a separate cell for women, sometimes in poor conditions.