Justice Gertrude Torkornoo, the chief justice nominee, on Friday (26 May 2023) called on Parliament to review Ghana’s position on capital punishment, describing the death penalty as “too final”.
“I do think that the death penalty is too final,” Justice Torkornoo said at her vetting in Parliament. “It is something that I will be grateful if the legislative body can begin to look at.”
In Ghana the death penalty has been imposed mainly as the mandatory punishment for murder. Amnesty International has campaigned over the years for the law to be abolished from Ghana’s statute book.
In June 2021, Francis-Xavier Sosu, the MP for Adenta, initiated a proposal for the introduction of a bill to remove the death penalty from the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29). The proposal seeks to abolish the death penalty for most capital offences under national legislation.
According to Amnesty International, as at the end of 2020, 160 people – 155 men and five women – were under sentence of death in Ghana. These included six foreign nationals, one from Benin, two from Burkina Faso and three from Nigeria at Nsawam Prison.
“The death penalty in Ghana has been frequently used in violation of international law and standards, affecting predominantly those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, as shown by research carried out by Amnesty International. It is high time the authorities of Ghana acted to fully abolish it.
“Conditions for men and women on death row do not meet international standards. Both men and women reported overcrowding, poor sanitary facilities, isolation and lack of adequate access to medical care and to recreational or educational opportunities available to other people in detention. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception,” the organisation said.
The last executions in Ghana were carried out in 1993, the year of Ghana’s return to civilian rule. Twelve people convicted of armed robbery or murder were executed by firing squad.
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