Life imprisonment synonymous with death penalty, don’t be a scapegoat!

The campaign to abolish the death penalty in Ghana’s constitution has been achieved and it’s great news to advocates, condemned prisoners, suspects whose cases are pending, and their families.

Parliament of Ghana on Tuesday, July 25, passed the Criminal Offences Amendment Act 2022, which seeks to replace the death penalty with life imprisonment.

Death penalty based on the constitution is imposed on convicts who commit murder, attempt to commit murder, genocide, treason or piracy, and smuggling of gold or diamond.

Many people before the amendment of the act showed disapproval of Parliament’s decision to abolish the death penalty act with the notion that it will pave the way for citizens to take the laws into their own hands.

Records show that the last time execution was carried out in Ghana was in 1993.

This means, most of the convicts are either released by various presidents who have managed the affairs of the country based on amnesty or are left to die in prison.

Ghana currently has one hundred and seventy(170) men and women on death row, whose sentences will now be replaced by life imprisonment.

Like Plato will say “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws”, therefore, although the death penalty has been abolished, there is a need to substitute it with another grisly law.

The difference between the death penalty and life imprisonment is very tiny and that shouldn’t lure anyone to commit any abysmal crime having in mind not facing the death penalty.

With the death penalty, prisoners woke up having in mind that this particular day will be their last day on earth.

Although they are alive, they can predict the day they will be killed like ‘animals’.

With life imprisonment, prisoners know that although they have lovely families somewhere, they will never get the opportunity to meet them again to have a joyful moment.

The inmates are confined to one place where their freedoms are curtailed for life.

As an ex-convict or civilized citizen, never at a point in time take the law into your own hands thinking that there is no death penalty awaiting you.

Never try that mistake in your life.

Murder has recently become rampant in Ghana and if all the perpetrators are jailed for life do you think as an inmate you will have the comfort to stay in such a populated enclosed environment? Think about that.

As citizens, we must always be vigilant and conscious of our actions having in mind not going contrary to the laws of the land.

Kudos to Madina Member of Parliament Francis-Xavier Sosu who championed the abolishment of the death penalty.

Indeed, the collaborative work of Francis-Xavier Sosu and the Death Penalty Project (DPP), a London-based campaign organization, and other human rights organizations like Amnesty International have not been in vain as Ghana’s Parliament has given ears to the numerous calls and has abolished the death penalty.

In recent years, many African countries including Benin, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Zambia have all abolished the death penalty law in their constitutions.

It is our responsibility as citizens now to ensure that we obey the laws of Ghana especially those that are not against the Criminal Offences Act to avoid being jailed for life.