President John Dramani Mahama has granted amnesty to 998 prisoners out of a total of 1,014, following a recommendation from the Prisons Service Council and consultation with the Council of State.
A statement dated August 18, 2025, signed by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, Spokesperson to the President and Minister of Government Communications, said the amnesty was in line with Article 72 (1) of the 1992 Constitution, which empowers the President to grant pardons, reprieves, or commute sentences.
The beneficiaries include 787 first-time offenders, 87 death-row inmates whose sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment, and 51 life sentences reduced to 20 years definite term.
Others are 33 seriously ill prisoners, 36 convicts over 70 years of age irrespective of offence, two nursing mothers, and two cases granted through petitions.
The decision, according to the statement, forms part of government’s efforts to decongest prisons and offer relief to vulnerable inmates.
