By Enyichukwu Enemanna
No fewer than 998 prisoners have benefitted from Ghana President’s exercise of presidential amnesty, granting them pardon.
President John Dramani Mahama’s clemency follows a recommendation from the Prisons Service Council, which had initially sought pardon for 1,014 individuals.
Presidential Spokesman Felix Kwakye Ofosu, in a statement on Monday said the decision was also taken in consultation with the Council of State.
Of those granted amnesty, 787 were first-time offenders, the presidency said.
The president also commuted the sentences of 87 death row prisoners to life imprisonment.
The statement added that 51 inmates serving life sentences will now have their terms reduced to a definite period of 20 years.
Thirty-three seriously ill prisoners, 36 individuals over the age of 70, two nursing mothers, and two prisoners whose petitions were reviewed were also pardoned by the president.
This amnesty comes amid clamour to decongest already over-populated Ghana prisons.
As of Monday, August 11, 2025, the total number of individuals held in Ghanaian prisons stood at 14,044, according to the Ghana Prison Services.
