1,602 prisoners benefit as Akufo-Addo grants second coronavirus amnesty

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has granted amnesty to 794 more prisoners to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in Ghana’s prisons.

Out of the figure, 772 were first-time offenders, 16 inmates were aged 70 years and above, and four seriously ill prisoners were freed. At the same time, two people who were on death row had their sentences lessened to life imprisonment.

This would be the second time in less than four months that Mr Akufo-Addo has granted amnesty to prisoners since the coronavirus struck last March.

Approximately two weeks after Ghana recorded its first COVID-19 cases on March 12, Mr Akufo-Addo pardoned 808 prisoners.

This brings the total number to 1, 602 within the COVID-19 era.

“The President of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in consultation with the Council of State, in commemoration of Workers Day, May 1, 2020, and in a bid to mitigate the dangers posed by congestion in the prisons, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, has, in accordance with Article 72 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, granted amnesty to 794 deserving prisoners,” a statement signed by the Director-General of Prisons, Patrick Darko Missah, on Thursday, July 2, 2020, indicated.

Congestion has been one of the major challenges in Ghana prisons.

Ghana’s prison service said in 2019 that overcrowding was 55.49 per cent as the inmate population hit 15,461 instead of 9,945 standard capacity.

Justice Clemence Jackson Honyenuga, a Supreme Court Judge and Chairman of the Justice for All Programme has also lamented the poor conditions at the country’s correctional facilities.

What is happening across the globe?

With the advent of the deadly novel coronavirus, governments across the world are have been considering ways to curb the spread of the virus in prison.

Iran temporarily released more than 54,000 prisoners.

Turkey, according to its Justice Minister, Abdulhamit Gul, was considering legislation that would free some of its 300,000 detainees.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, in a statement, urged countries to protect people in detention from the COVID-19 pandemic by releasing vulnerable prisoners.

“Authorities should examine ways to release those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, among them older detainees and those who are sick, as well as low-risk offenders,” Ms Bachelet said in March.

According to her, detention facilities in many countries were severely overcrowded, making detainees and staff particularly vulnerable to catching the deadly new coronavirus.

“People are often held in unhygienic conditions and health services are inadequate or even non-existent. Physical distancing and self-isolation in such conditions are practically impossible,” she noted.