A private legal practitioner, Lawyer Topra Abradu Nyansakuku, has emphasized that abolishing the death penalty in Ghana requires a comprehensive constitutional amendment, including revising Act 29, Section 46 of the Criminal Offenses Act.
Lawyer Topra stressed that the 1992 Constitution prescribes death as the punishment for treasonable offenses, such as coup d’état.
“The Constitution has clearly stated that treasonable offenses, like coup d’état, warrant the death penalty,” he noted.
The legal practitioner acknowledged that pressure groups, including Amnesty International, have long campaigned against the death penalty. However, he emphasized that the punishment remains enshrined in the Constitution and can only be removed through a constitutional amendment.
Lawyer Topra further highlighted that although the death penalty is not currently practiced in Ghana, the possibility of its implementation remains if a president with differing views takes office.
“Even though the death penalty is not executed presently, if an evil president were to take office, the action could be carried out with presidential assent,” he cautioned.
Currently, individuals sentenced to death are instead serving life imprisonment, despite this not being the intended outcome. Lawyer Topra advised that to truly abolish the death penalty, Ghana must undertake a thorough constitutional amendment.
This comes on the back of Supreme Court nominee, Justice Sir Dennis Dominic Adjei urged the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Ghana, arguing that judges should be granted the discretion to impose alternative sentences in capital cases.
Appearing before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Monday, 16 June, Justice Adjei contended that the automatic imposition of the death penalty violates the fundamental right to life and places Ghana in breach of its international human rights commitments.
“I agree that the mandatory imposition of the death sentence is wrong,” he stated.
“If a person goes to court and is to be convicted and suffer death, first and foremost, we must respect life. The judge who heard the matter should have the discretion—either to give several years or impose the death sentence.”
He pointed to offences such as treason, high treason, and certain provisions of the Armed Forces Act (Act 105), which currently prescribe the death penalty upon conviction.
Justice Adjei noted that this rigid approach undermines Ghana’s obligations under Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which upholds the sanctity of life.
