Ghana abolishes death penalty, with expected reprieve for 176 condemned prisoners

Ghana has not carried out an execution since 1993, but courts have continued to hand down death sentences. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters

Ghana has become the 29th country in Africa to abolish the death penalty in a move hailed by human rights activists.

The decision means that the 176 people currently on death row, including six women, are likely to have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.