On Tuesday, in a monumental decision, Ghana's parliament decided to abolish the death penalty, joining the ranks of numerous other African nations that have lately taken steps to repeal capital punishment. This brings the total number of African countries that have taken steps to repeal the death penalty to twenty-one. This action marks an important milestone in Ghana's commitment to safeguarding human rights and is reflective of a growing global trend towards the elimination of the death penalty.
According to the Ghana Prison Service, there were 176 persons on death row as of the previous year. This is despite the fact that Ghana has not carried out an execution since 1993. With the passage of the new bill, the Criminal Offences Act of the state will be altered to remove the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life imprisonment; however, the law will not go into effect until it receives the assent of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Parliamentarian Francis-Xavier Sosu, who was responsible for introducing the measure, has expressed his contentment with the outcome, referring to it as a big step forward in Ghana's record of upholding human rights. He noted the considerable research that constantly proved that the majority of Ghanaians favoured removing the death sentence. This research included constitutional studies as well as opinion polls. He emphasised that this study.
Abolishing the death penalty in Ghana is a laudable step forward for the country, as it falls in line with the larger movement taking place around the world to do away with the use of capital punishment. Ghana is the 124th country in the world to abolish the death penalty, and it is the 29th country in Africa to do so, according to The Death Penalty Project, a non-governmental organisation based in London that worked in collaboration with local partners in Ghana to encourage this reform.
As a result of this forward-thinking move, Ghana will join the ranks of other African countries that have abolished the use of the death penalty in recent years. In the past two years, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, the Central African Republic, and Zambia have all taken steps to abolish the death sentence. This is a promising sign that attitudes across the continent are shifting in the direction of more compassionate forms of justice.
The inherent problems with such a punishment, as well as the fact that it cannot be undone, have now been acknowledged to the point that they have led to the decision to abolish the death sentence. There are many people who believe that the use of the death penalty breaches fundamental human rights, such as the right to life and the freedom from being subjected to treatment that is cruel, inhuman, or humiliating.
By taking this significant step towards ending the use of the death penalty, Ghana is sending a strong message about its dedication to upholding human rights and ensuring justice. This action is expected to be hailed as a big step forward in the direction of a judicial system that is more humane and equal by human rights organisations, both in Ghana and around the world. By opting for a sentence of life in prison rather than the death penalty, Ghana is paving the way for a future that will value the dignity and rights of all of its residents, including those who have been convicted of terrible crimes.