Ghana
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist de facto
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are...
- News items in the archive
- 137
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Ghana is classified as Abolitionist de facto in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 137 news items on Ghana, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JUNE 6, 2002GhanaDEATH PENALTY
The Director General of Prisons, Mr
The Director General of Prisons, Mr
- JANUARY 1, 2002GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are...
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2002GhanaDEATH PENALTY
The last execution was in '93 when some armed robbers...
The last execution was in '93 when some armed robbers were executed
- JANUARY 1, 2002GhanaDEATH PENALTY
At least 155 people are listed as having been executed...
At least 155 people are listed as having been executed between 1984 and 1993, when democracy returned to the former British colony after Jerry Rawlings was elected as president, and was said to have headed an iron fisted military government
- NOVEMBER 9, 2001GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Three Ghanaian drug dealers were sentenced to death...
Three Ghanaian drug dealers were sentenced to death by hanging at the Klong Prem prison in Bangkok, Thailand
- JULY 25, 2001GhanaDEATH PENALTY
The Malaysian High Court sentenced a 41-year-old Ghanaian...
The Malaysian High Court sentenced a 41-year-old Ghanaian businessman, to death for trafficking in 515
- APRIL 25, 2001GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf...
Andaila Mohamad, 40; Wahab Medina, 40; Chab Abdullanaf Umah, 27, all Ghanaian nationals were sentenced to death in Thailand on drug related charges
- JANUARY 6, 2001GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, pardoned Kwame Pianim,...
Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, pardoned Kwame Pianim, an old political foe convicted of treason against his then military government in 1982, who served 10 years in prison after a death sentence
- JANUARY 1, 2001GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are...
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are capital crimes
- APRIL 8, 2000GhanaDEATH PENALTY
President Jerry John Rawlings granted amnesty to 1,000...
President Jerry John Rawlings granted amnesty to 1,000 prisoners, including two soldiers who were convicted in 1983 and 1985 respectively and sentenced to death for subversion
- JANUARY 12, 2000GhanaDEATH PENALTY
President Jerry John Rawlings, in a gesture of reconciliation...
President Jerry John Rawlings, in a gesture of reconciliation as he neared the end of his final term, offered an apology to those who suffered as a result of the decisions he took during almost two decades of power
- JANUARY 1, 2000GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are...
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2000GhanaDEATH PENALTY
President Jerry John Rawlings seized power as a young...
President Jerry John Rawlings seized power as a young air force officer in a 1979 coup that toppled General Frederick Akuffo's military regime
- JULY 22, 1999GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Ghana signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Ghana signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- MARCH 1, 1999GhanaDEATH PENALTY
In March, the Ghanaian authorities said James Owoo,...
In March, the Ghanaian authorities said James Owoo, a former army officer accused of plotting to overthrow President Jerry Rawlings in 1994, was captured by the West African peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999GhanaDEATH PENALTY
At the beginning of February, 4 civilians, Alex Offei,...
At the beginning of February, 4 civilians, Alex Offei, Kwame Ofori Appiah, Sylvester Addai Dwomoh and John Owusu Boakye, convicted of conspiracy and treason in 1994 against the Government of President Jerry Rawlings, were sentenced to death in Accra by a
- JANUARY 1, 1999GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are...
Armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder are capital crimes