Prez grants amnesty to 896 prisoners

President John Dramani Mahama has granted amnesty to 896 prisoners in the country's prisons.

The freed prisoners include first-time offenders, those seriously ill, inmates aged 70 and above, those with special cases such as amputees, as well as prisoners on death row whose sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment.

A press release signed and issued by the Minister of Communications, Dr Omane Boamah, said out of the number freed, 813 were first-time offenders, 16 were seriously sick, 63 were aged 70 and above and a prisoner who is a double amputee.

In addition, he said, three prisoners on death row whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment had also been freed. 

The President, he said, exercised his prerogative of granting the amnesty under Article 72 of the 1992 Constitution and in commemoration of the 56th anniversary of Ghana’s Republic Day.