President John Dramani Mahama on Monday, August 18, 2025, granted amnesty to 998 prisoners across the country, with majority of them being first time offenders.
Also on the list of the beneficiaries are 33 seriously ill prisoners, 36 inmates aged over 70 years, 87 on the death row, and two nursing mothers.
However, two other prisoners who have specifically petitioned the President to be granted pardon were not named in the press release that announced the amnesty.
Although none of the beneficiaries was named, the description given in the Felix Kwakye Ofosu-signed press statement didn’t fit either of the two individuals who had petitioned the President for mercy.
One of them is William Ato Essien, the former CEO of the defunct Capital Bank, who was convicted in April 2023 for misapplying liquidity support from the Bank of Ghana and sentenced to 15 years in prison on October 12, 2023.
But he is currently on bail on medical grounds after filing an appeal.
There has been growing support for Ato Essien’s call for amnesty with many calling on the President to get him freed after reports emerged that he is not well and has been admitted at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra for medical care.
Those who joined the call for the President to pardon Ato Essien argued that the cases of all the other people who were charged for playing a role in the collapse of various other banks had been discontinued by the current government.
Consequently, the proponents for the grant of pardon for Ato Essien contended that, it was unfair for only William Ato Essien to remain in jail.
They argued that Ato Essien was unwell and was using a wheelchair in prison.
Graphic Online is reporting that the list of beneficiaries does not include Patricia Asiedu Asiamah, popularly known as Nana Agradaa, the fetish priestess-turned evangelist.
Agradaa was jailed for defrauding people of their monies, with other charges against her still pending in court, and is yet to serve even six months out of her 15-year jail term, ruling her out of the opportunity.
According to the statement, the 33 seriously ill prisoners and the 36 inmates who are seventy years and above, should be granted freedom irrespective of the offence they committed.
A total of 787 first-time offenders are also part and are to be released.
The statement also indicated that 87 prisoners currently under sentence of death will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment, while 51 inmates serving life sentences will have their terms reduced to a definite 20-year sentence.
Humanitarian considerations, the statement pointed out, formed a significant part of the decision.
Although 1,014 inmates were recommended by the Prisons Service Council for the amnesty, 998 were approved by the President.
The move underscores the application of constitutional mercy provisions aimed at addressing prison congestion and specific humanitarian cases.
