Correspondence from the Ashanti Region

A section of the residents of Kumasi have expressed disappointment in parliament's decision to cancel death penalty that had been enshrined in the constitution.

They are, therefore, urging President Akufo-Addo to desist from appending his signature on this new death penalty cancellation law to make it work.

According to most of the residents who spoke with GhanaWeb in areas such as Tafo, Suame, Adum, Kejetia etc, it was very unfortunate for a whole parliament to abolish a law that sought to protect innocent Ghanaians.

"If people were being killed like animals even at the time when the law was at work, how much more are people going to be saved now that the law has been cancelled?" Aunty Akua, a second-hand clothing seller at Kejetia quizzed in disappointment.

Expressing their opinions on the matter, most of these residents who described parliament's decision as very unfortunate urged the house to reverse it to restore hope and security for Ghanaians.

"We are hearing them say they are doing this to ensure human rights. Also, there is the idea that the subsequent presidents do not want to sign for the murderers to be killed. Any president who refuses to sign on a death penalty judgement is a betrayer. Yes, that is a betrayal to the judge who may sit on the case. I don't agree with parliament to cancel this death penalty law. The very first time I heard them take this step to cancel the death penalty, I became very disappointed in them," Soldier, a mechanic at Suame Magazine told GhanaWeb.

Another man at Suame who gave his name as Danny said, "Anyone who murders his fellow human being needs to die in the same manner. What hurts me most is how lawyers are hired to defend these wicked murderers. Even if we fear to kill them too, there is the need for us to get doctors who will inject poisonous substance into their bodies for them to equally taste the bitterness of death."

"The president should not sign for this law to be cancelled. We urge him to make sure the law is maintained to scare murderers of this land," another resident said.

"I'm disappointed in our parliamentarians for taking such a decision. How can you cancel death penalty when there are still murderers killing people all over. Do they want to worsen the situation? Why did they even waste their time on this issue when there were several matters of national concern to discuss?" man who gave his name as Nana Addo angrily asked at Tafo.

Ghana's parliament took the decision to abolish death penalty after observing that various presidents fail to append signatures for the final murder of these culprits who have been given death sentences. Also, there was the idea that pronouncing death sentence on someone violates people's rights.

This decision by parliament has since been met with several criticisms from various opinion leaders and legal practitioners.

One of them is NPP's former deputy General Secretary, Lawyer Obiri Boahen who stood against the cancellation with the argument that people who are being killed by these murderers also have rights.

He further threatened to support a mob justice, that is, if the parliament is only trying to glorify murderers as people with a human right.

"What about the people they kill, do they belong to the human left?" he asked this in an interview with a Kumasi based radio station monitored by GhanaWeb.

Apart from Lawyer Obiri Boahen, there are several opinion leaders who have stood against the new decision.

Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

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