President John Dramani Mahama has granted presidential amnesty to 998 inmates across the country, following recommendations from the Prisons Service Council and consultations with the Council of State.
The decision, announced in a statement signed by Presidential Spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu on Monday, August 18, 2025, was made in accordance with Article 72(1) of the 1992 Constitution.
Out of 1,014 convicts recommended for pardon, 998 were approved. The beneficiaries include 787 first-time offenders, 87 inmates whose death sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment, and 51 whose life sentences have been reduced to 20 years definite terms.
Also among them are 33 seriously ill prisoners, 36 inmates aged above 70, two nursing mothers, and two individuals released through petitions.
Government says the initiative is aimed at decongesting the country’s overcrowded prisons while offering reformed inmates a fresh start in society.
