Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, in an exercise of presidential clemency, has granted amnesty to 998 prisoners, authorities announced on Monday evening.
The president's action followed a recommendation from the Prisons Service Council, which had initially sought pardon for 1,014 individuals.
Presidential Spokesman Felix Kwakye Ofosu, in a statement, said the decision was also taken in consultation with the Council of State, the Ghana News Agency reports.
Of those granted amnesty, 787 were first-time offenders. The president also commuted the sentences of 87 death row prisoners to life imprisonment.
Vulnerable groups
The statement added that 51 inmates serving life sentences will now have their terms reduced to a definite period of 20 years.
Thirty-three seriously ill prisoners, 36 individuals over the age of 70, two nursing mothers, and two prisoners whose petitions were reviewed were also pardoned by the president.
This amnesty comes at a time when Ghana's prison system holds a substantial inmate population.
As of Monday, August 11, 2025, the total number of individuals held in Ghanaian prisons stood at 14,044, according to the Ghana Prison Services. Ghana’s national population stood at 34.43 million as of the end of 2024, according to the World Bank.
Ghanaian presidents have historically exercised prerogatives of mercy and offered pardon to prisoners.
Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in December 2024, a day before the end of his tenure, pardoned eleven prisoners after a review of their health, length of imprisonment, and other mitigating factors, authorities said at the time.
