Sosu to petition Mahama for definite sentences for death row inmates

The Member of Parliament for Madina and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Francis Xavier Sosu, has said he will petition President John Dramani Mahama to assign definite custodial terms for inmates currently on death row.

This comes in the wake of Ghana’s recent abolition of the death penalty.

During a visit to the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons in the Eastern Region on Monday, May 19, 2025, Mr. Sosu highlighted the need for the President to commute death sentences to fixed-term imprisonment rather than indefinite life sentences.

Addressing the press, he argued that such a move would align with the principles of justice and equality enshrined in Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.

“The president, in commuting them from the death row to life sentences, will rather commit them to definite terms. So, if we are to say that all those who have been here on the death row, until the passage of the law, are committed to 25 years imprisonment, then that way it will be consistent with the letter and spirit of Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution,”

He further revealed that he, together with members of the Human Rights Committee of Parliament, will prepare and submit a formal petition to the President through the Attorney General’s office.

“I, together with the Human Rights Committee, will work together to send a petition to the president through the Attorney General to ensure that by the work of the committee, we can have some intervention from the presidency,” he stated.

Mr. Sosu has long been an advocate for human rights reforms, and this latest move adds momentum to the country’s transition away from capital punishment toward more rehabilitative justice measures.