National Coordinator of the National Youth Authority (NYA) Ras Mubarak, says the 11-year sentence given to a mother of nine for selling alcohol mixed with Indian hemp is extremely harsh.
An Accra Circuit Court last Wednesday sentenced Ama Forson to 11 years in prison with hard labour, a ruling that has been widely condemned.
Ras Mubarak explained that although he is not against punishing lawbreakers, lawmakers need to review sentences that have the potential to destroy lives and overburden the state.
“We need to look at sentencing regimes in the country and look at how people can still make people pay for their punishments without necessarily destroying their lives… and secondly also overburdening the state of cost of keeping them in prisons.”
The fact that Ama Forson is a mother of nine must also be taken into consideration according to the NYA National Coordinator.
“Mine was hinged on humanitarian grounds because she is a woman and a mother secondly. I felt that being a way in prison for the number of years that she was given might not be in the interest of the children that she has.”
Ras Mubarak also welcomed the decision by the Ministry of Gender Childern and Social Protection to intervene in the case.
The Minister of Gender and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur in a statement on Monday, announced her outfit is liaising with the Attorney General’s Department to assess the circumstances of the case and provide support including legal services.
Facts of the case
The facts of the case were that, on September 29, 2015, the New Weija Police arrested the convict in a swoop at Bortianor in the Ga Central Municipality.
The police, during their search on her premises, retrieved quantities of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp from her black ladies’ handbag.
The search also revealed a wine bottle containing dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and liquid.
The sentence has been widely criticized as highhanded for the offense in question particularly when the convict has nine children to be catered for.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana