President Akufo-Addo has granted presidential amnesty to 808 convict prisoners.
According to the Presidential Amnesty statement from the Prison Service singed by Director-General Patrick Darko, President Akufo-Addo upon the recommendation of the Prison Service Council and in consultation with the Council of State has already in accordance with Article 72(1) granted amnesty to 808 convict prisoners.
The 808 freed inmates are grouped in 5 categories; – first offenders-783, seriously ill -11, Inmates on death roll- 7, Inmates serving life sentence -4, very old prisoners 70years and above – 3.
The latest Presidential amnesty comes in the wake of the Minority in Parliament call on government to decongest Ghana’s prisons as a result of the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament today March 26 2020, Minority Spokesperson on Defence and Interior, James Agalga said the call on the President to grant pardon to inmates constitutes strategies that should be deployed to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
”The prison’s population is about 14,000 and yet our prisons facilities can only contain 8,000 inmates. So what that simply means is that the overcrowding in our prisons is over 50% and yet we are all under threat of this coronavirus pandemic.
He further indicated that: ”My suggestion is that, this is the right moment for the President to consider the option of exercising the prerogative function of mercy under the constitution to grant pardon to at least the petty offenders that have been incarcerated within this period so that at least we can decongest our prisons. God forbid if there is an outbreak in the prisons we are headed for a disaster”.
