Amnesty International awards Francis Sosu for role in abolishment of death penalty

The Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu (Esq) has been rewarded for his marvelous role in the abolishment of death penalty at an event at French Embassy as part of the celebrations of the International Day against Death Penalty last Thursday, 5th October, 2023.

The event which was in collaboration with the Amnesty International Ghana also awarded private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu for similar role he played in abolishment of the death penalty on offenders.

This follows efforts by the Madina lawmaker to give effect to the recommendations of the 2010 Constitution Review Commission and the Government White Paper on abolition of the death penalty.

His move gave credence to President Akufo-Addo to assent to the Criminal Offences Amendment Act, 2023, and the Armed Forces Amendment Act, 2023, passed by Parliament to substitute life imprisonment for the death penalty into law on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.

The move by the NDC lawmaker and Martin Kpebu brought an end to several years of failed attempts to get the provision removed from the Criminal Offences Act.

According to Francis-Xavier Sosu, “The death penalty being part of our laws inflicts not only immerse psychological pain and torture on accused persons and assassination officers, but also smacks of practices of backward societies.

“In view of this, it is worth pointing out that Ghana has not applied the death penalty since 1993. There is therefore the need to amend sections 46, 49, 49A, 180, 194 and 317A of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960, (Act 29). We must as a country take steps to expunge the death clause from our laws.”

All To Know About Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu

Hon. Francis-Xavier Sosu, the Member of Parliament for the MADINA Constituency would go down in the history of Ghana and perhaps Africa as being the only young first-time Member of Parliament, in opposition to have successfully introduced and seen to completion a policy that has huge impact of the life and values of the Ghanaian society and the Commonwealth of nations.

Hon. Francis-Xavier Kojo Sosu (ESQ), a native of Denu in the Volta region of Ghana was born in Accra as a destitute child.

Growing up, he became street child for many years and got adopted into Village of Hope Orphanage. From the Orphanage he graduated from University of Ghana, and went further to the Ghana School of Law and got called to the Ghana Bar in 2010. Prior to being called to the Bar Hon. Sosu has being a student activist and could be said to have over 20 years of activism and demanding for change and various aspects of leadership in Ghana.

Currently he is a Legislator, Human Rights Lawyer and Activist, an Author, a Christian Leader, currently the 2nd Vice President of the United Nations Association of Ghana, and Patron of the Cancer Project Foundation, Ghana. In 2021, Hon. Sosu was the recipient of the Timothy Bowles African Human Rights Leadership Award in Virginia, USA. In 2018 he was awarded for the law category of Ghana Under 40 Awards after being nominated for the same category in 2017. He received the Humanitarian Award in 2017 and Ghana Peace Award in 2016 for his Human Rights activism. Hon Sosu is considered one of the most influential young Ghanaian Human Rights Lawyer and politician of our times.

Over the last13 years, his work and experience as a Human Rights Lawyer and activist and has earned his place as the foremost Human Rights Lawyer currently in Ghana. He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association, Africa Bar Association, International Association of Peoples Lawyers, Lawyers Without Borders, Canada, Criminal Justice Reforms Association and Lawyers In search of Democracy, Law Society of Ghana and recently the Commonwealth Lawyers Association.

He has Bachelor of Arts (BA) (Hons) in Sociology and Archaeology, Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (Hons), Master of Laws (LLM) in Oil and Gas Law, Master of Arts (MA) in Economic Policy Management. He also holds MPhil (Human Rights, Peace and Conflict Studies). He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Ghana Law School with research interests in Regional Integration Laws. His research topic is “Harmonizing Regional Economic Communities to aid the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to achieve African Integration” He has also completed a course in International Legislative Drafting from the Public Law Institute at Tulane Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States of America.

Hon. Sosu has published six (6) Books titled Pro Bono Lawyer without Honour, Love lifted me from the Streets, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, I am the Street Lawyer, Being the Change and Homeless. These books which are both memoirs and research based shed incredible light into his life, his legal practice, deficiency in the criminal Justice system in Ghana. His books also shares amazing stories of how he rose from being a needy and destitute Street child, adopted into the village of Hope Orphanage in Ghana West Africa.Hon. Sosu is a member of the Appointments Committee of Parliament and currently serves as Deputy Ranking Member of the Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee in the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana.

Mr Sosu has instituted similar human rights and social protection legislations to cover wrongful arrests and detentions, cancer and tumors in children, victims of sexual violation, persons with disabilities among many others.