Thirteen first-time offenders walked out of Wa Central Prison on October 23, 2026, after receiving presidential amnesty from President John Dramani Mahama. The ceremony marked their formal discharge and reintegration into society.
Upper West Regional Prisons Commander DDP Alhaji Ousmane Tasembedo said that 18 inmates had been nominated for consideration. Out of those, 13 were approved under Article 72(1) of the 1992 Constitution. Only three were present at the event to be officially released. The other ten had already left through the usual one-third sentence discharge process before the amnesty paperwork caught up with them.
Tasembedo called the amnesty an opportunity for transformation rather than just freedom from custody. He noted that the Wa Central Prison had successfully reformed 34 inmates since 2024. Among the 13 beneficiaries, two had learned vocational skills in smock sewing and tailoring during their time in prison. The prison service plans to provide them with start-up materials to begin their new lives outside.
Daubile Alhassan Ibrahim, Assembly Member for Jonga and Wa Municipal Justice and Security Chairman, spoke for the Municipal Chief Executive at the ceremony. He warned the released inmates that the amnesty did not grant immunity from future prosecution. “It doesn’t mean that when you are granted this amnesty today and you go out there and commit any offense the law will not say oh some time ago the president was granted you amnesty to go home and rest,” Ibrahim said.
Yakubu Anas, 39, spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries. He expressed gratitude to President Mahama for the opportunity and thanked the regional command for the vocational training. Anas promised to use the skills and conduct himself responsibly.
Nuokpem Richard, representing the families, also thanked the government and prison officials for the training given to the inmates. “We are praying that they should go and continue and then achieve their aim at the end of the day they should be somebody in the near future,” he said.
The release follows wider efforts by the government to ease prison overcrowding and support rehabilitation. Wa Central Prison’s program to teach vocational skills to inmates has been part of a broader push to reduce recidivism. The three men discharged publicly joined others who had already reentered their communities quietly before the amnesty was confirmed.
The event attracted attention across the Upper West Region, reflecting ongoing conversations about justice, rehabilitation, and social reintegration.
According to Joy Online.
