The Ghana’s Presidency on Monday evening announced that President John Dramani Mahama has granted amnesty to 998 prisoners across Ghana’s correctional facilities.
A statement from the Presidency said 787 of those pardoned were first time offenders, while 33 were forgiven on medical grounds.
On the list of persons granted amnesty in the Monday, August 18, 2025 announcement are two inmates who had specifically petitioned the presidency for amnesty and had pleaded for consideration.
President John Mahama also commuted the sentences of 87 death row prisoners to life imprisonment. In total, 998 inmates were pardoned. 2 petitioners, 33 seriously ill prisoners, 36 inmates aged over 70 years, 87 on death row are among 998 granted presidential pardon
The decision eases pressure on Ghana’s prisons which face overcrowding and capacity constraints.
As of this August, the country’s inmate population stood at 14,044, according to the Ghana Prisons Service.
The president was working on a recommendation from the Prisons Service Council, which had initially sought pardon for 1,014 individuals. To fight overcrowding, Ghanaian lawmakers approved the parole system which allows for inmates meeting certain criteria to be released conditionally.
The introduction of parole was hailed by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as ‘a moment of reflection and re-imagination for Ghana’s justice system’. They were not named in the press statement.
Also on the list are 33 seriously ill prisoners, 36 inmates aged over 70 years, 87 on the death row, and two nursing mothers, who are all among the 998 granted presidential amnesty.
The statement from the presidency, signed and issued by the Presidential Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu did not name any of the beneficiaries.
However, one person who had recently petitioned the president for amnesty is William Ato Essien, the former chief executive officer of the now-defunct Capital Bank, who was convicted in April 2023 for misapplying liquidity support from the Bank of Ghana and jailed on October 12, 2023, for 15 years.
Graphic Online understands Ato Essien is not part of the beneficiaries of the presidential pardon.
However, he is currently on bail on medical grounds following an appeal he has filed.
Ato Essien’s petition for pardon had received growing support with many pleading that President Mahama should pardon him following reports that he was not well and had recently been admitted at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra for treatment.
Those who joined the call for the president to pardon Ato Essien argued that the cases of all the other people who were charged for playing a role in the collapse of various other banks had been discontinued by the current government.
Consequently, the proponents for the grant of pardon for Ato Essien contended that, it was unfair for only William Ato Essien to remain in jail.
They argued that Ato Essien was unwell and was using a wheelchair in prison.
The statement from the presidency announced that 33 seriously ill prisoners and thirty-six inmates aged seventy years and above, irrespective of their offence, were included in the amnesty.
A total of 787 first-time offenders are also part and are to be released.
Furthermore, 87 prisoners currently under sentence of death will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, while 51 inmates serving life sentences will have their terms reduced to a definite 20-year sentence.
According to the statement, humanitarian considerations formed a significant part of the decision.
The President approved 998 out of the 1,014 inmates recommended for amnesty by the Prisons Service Council.
The move underscores the application of constitutional mercy provisions aimed at addressing prison congestion and specific humanitarian cases.
Additional Sources: Africa News, Daily Graphic
