London, Feb. 17, 2020 (AltAfrica)-Ghana President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has hinted that his government will consider the removal of the death penalty from the country’s statute books

President Akufo-Addo made his position known when members of the Amnesty International, AI paid a courtesy call at the Jubilee House last Friday

He said the suggestion by Amnesty International that five of the six offences that qualify for the death penalty could easily be removed through the parliamentary process was something worth considering by the government.

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“I want to signal to you that definitely the ideas you have put forward on that [death penalty] are interesting, and I will have a close look and if indeed the consensus within government goes down on that path, so be it. Rightly, the issue of treason is different,” he added.

Amnesty International suggested that the death penalty was an affront to the fundamental human rights of the people and could easily be replaced with life imprisonment without parole.

President Akufo-Addo noted that the abolition of the death penalty had attained global discussions with a lot of countries coming to terms with it.

“I think that the solutions they are proposing is ingenious, in that five out of six offences can be dealt with by statutory enactment,” the President posited.

He gave an assurance that the ministers of justice and for the interior, and the heads of the various security agencies would brainstorm and bring some suggestions to cabinet for a decision.

A member of AI Ghana, Mr Martin Kpebu, who made the case for the abolition of the death penalty, added that there had been a Supreme Court pronouncement on the issue and that the highest court of the land suggested an Act of Parliament to deal with it.