Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu and Madina lawmaker Francis-Xavier Sosu were recognized and honored by the French Embassy and Amnesty International Ghana for their roles in the abolition of the death penalty in Ghana.

The recognition came during a ceremony in Accra to commemorate the World Day against the Death Penalty, celebrated on the 10th of October each year.

Ghana's Parliament abolished the death penalty on July 25, 2023, through a Private Member’s Bill initiated by MP Francis-Xavier Sosu.

This marked the end of several years of unsuccessful attempts to remove the provision from the Criminal Offences Act. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo subsequently signed the bill into law on August 2.

Currently, there are 186 condemned prisoners on death row in Ghana, consisting of six females and 180 males. Both awardees called on President Akufo-Addo to commute all death sentences to life imprisonment by signing the second option protocol.

Francis-Xavier Sosu, who is also the Deputy Ranking Member for the Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, commended the President for prioritizing the abolition of these provisions from Ghana’s constitution.

He also urged the removal of any remaining death penalty provisions from the constitution.

Genevieve Partington, Country Director of Amnesty International, emphasized that the efforts of Kpebu and Sosu signify that the approach to abolition was a home-grown solution with no external forces involved.

The French Ambassador to Ghana, Jules-Armand Aniambossou, highlighted France's own history of abolishing the death penalty and called for partnerships between civil society organizations to combat all forms of human rights abuses.