Claim: The new Community Service Law does not impose a custodial sentence even if a person is found guilty
Source: Alexander Afenyo-Markin (Minority Leader)
Verdict: False
Researched by Samuel Adjetey Adjei
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin claimed that the new Community Service Law does not recommend a custodial sentence for a person who commits an offence categorised as a misdemeanour.
Delivering the keynote address at the National Emerging Leaders’ Economic Forum (NELEF) 2026 held on September 21, the Effutu lawmaker said, “Recently, Parliament passed a law that imposes a responsibility on our courts that, on matters that are misdemeanours (that is), offences that are minor, the court has a responsibility to impose a non-custodial sentence on the person. So there is a new sentencing regime when Parliament has passed a law, and the President has assented to it.
“So this is a misdemeanour, and the law in Parliament is that with a misdemeanour there should be no custodial sentence even if the person is guilty. We have something called community service that is the new law. So is our Adenta Circuit Court judge aware of the new law? It’s a question,” he said while addressing what he described as legal inconsistencies surrounding the arrest of a senior nursing officer, Salomey Awiti Baffoe.
The Minority Leader also shared an excerpt of the address on his Facebook and X accounts. The video has also been shared by multiple social media accounts (here, here,...
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