Madina MP’s statement on the need to expunge death penalty
Human Rights Lawyer and Deputy Ranking Member for the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament, Honorable Francis Xavier Sosu advocacy for the abolishment of death sentence from Ghana’s constitution has been one that can be classify as a solid ground for implementation.
In June this year, the Madina lawmaker introduced a Private Members’ bill to parliament, seeking the legislature’s assistance to amend sections 46, 49, 49A, 180, 194 and 317A of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960, (ACT 29).
In the bill, Mr. Sosu argued that the right to life is a fundamental human right that cannot be taken away because someone committed a crime including murder.
According to him, punishment all over the world has moved from that of retribution to reformative. “There are also several examples of people who were convicted and sentenced to death who later were found not to be guilty of the offences for which they were convicted.”
On October 10, 2021 – few days ago as the World Day marked another day advocacy against Death Penalty, which was celebrated under the theme “Women and death penalty, an invisible reality”, Lawyer Francis in another statement detailed the need for Ghana to understand and exercise the abolishment of death sentences.
Read the full unedited statement below:
10th October, 2021, marked the World Day against Death Penalty, which is celebrated on the theme “Women and death penalty, an invisible reality.”
In Ghana, there are about 5 women who are currently under sentence of death. These women suffer immensely from trauma for existing at risk of being executed. Though these executions are hardly carried out in Ghana, the imperfections of our Judicial System are sufficient reasons why we must do away with death sentence. People could mistakenly be killed only for future evidence to exonerate them.
For the women on death role, the death penalty has been imposed mainly as the mandatory punishment for murder. Trial judges are unable to consider or take into account any mitigating factors that relates to murder cases involving women including prolonged domestic violence in the hands of partners; the circumstances of the offence, or their peculiar backgrounds before sentencing women when they are convicted for murder. This also forms part of the reasons why I have set in motion a Private Member’s Bill to amend various provisions in our Criminal and Other Offences Act (Act 29) to achieve ninety-five (95) percent abolishing of the death penalty.
It is my hope and expectation that Ghana would soon achieve at least 95 percent abolishing of the death penalty, and become the 24th African country to abolish the death penalty from our statute books, following neighbours including Sierra Leone, Guinea, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Togo and Chad the next time this Day is marked.
As stated by UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in a tweet on 25th July 2021, “the death penalty has no place in the 21st Century.”
Bill Explanation
Mr. Sosu revealed in the Bill that, in 2011 when delivering judgement in the supreme court case of Dexter Johnson v. the Republic [2011] 2 SCGLR 601@P702, the Court through Justice Dotse JSC said: “I am however of the view … the time has possibly come for the Parliament of Ghana to seriously consider whether to have a policy shift in the mandatory death penalty regime imposed on those convicted of murder…. It is only Parliament which can consider an amendment of the Criminal and other Offences Act, 1960, Act 29.”
He recalled that more than 10 years down the line, Parliament which is the legislative arm of government is yet to take any major step in this direction. This, he explained, compelled him to take the steps to introduce the bill to assist Parliament to take the concern a notch higher and begin processes to remove death penalty from Ghana’s statute books.
Ghana’s position on the abolition of death penalty
Quoting some aspects of the Constitutional Review Commission’s report to support his argument, Mr. Sosu said in his Bill that, the Commission in paragraph 75 on page 645 of its final report “recommends the replacement of the death penalty with imprisonment for life without parole.”
According to him, the recommendation was as a result of the wide range consultation by the commission.
He pointed out that on page 44 of the Government white Paper on the Constitutional Review Commission, Government stated its position that “Government accepts the recommendation of the Constitutional Review Commission that the death penalty in article 3 of the Constitution be completely abolished and that the penalty be replaced with imprisonment for life. The sanctity of life is a value so much engrained in the Ghanaian social psyche that it cannot be gambled away with judicial uncertainties.”
How to achieve the abolition goal
For Mr. Sosu, there are two ways to deal with the abolition of death penalty from Ghana’s laws. “We could do it by Constitutional amendment or with amendment of various provisions in the Criminal and Other Offences Act (Act 29) which prescribe death penalty as punishment,” he said.
He stated that because Article 3 of the 1992 Constitutional is an entrenched provision, any amendment would require a referendum. “This might be the reason for the delay in operationalizing the government white paper on the recommendations of the Constitutional review commission.”
The second approach in his view can be achieved by amending Act 29 which would lead to about 95% abolition of death penalty without constitutional amendment. “This argument has been forcefully argued by Amnesty International Ghana and Human Rights Lawyers like Lawyer Martin Kpebu,” he said.
To avoid cost, Mr. Sosu stressed that a simple amendment of the various provisions of Act 29 will cut out the expenses that will be incurred if a referendum should take place.
According to him, the death penalty being part of Ghana’s laws inflicts not only immerse psychological pain and torture on accused persons and assassination officers, but also smacks of practices of backward societies.
“In view of this, it is worth pointing out that Ghana has not applied the death penalty since 1993. There is therefore the need to amend sections 46, 49, 49A, 180, 194 and 317A of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960, (Act 29). We must as a country take steps to expunge the death clause from our laws”, he said.
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