In a landmark decision that highlights the importance of fair trial rights and due process, the Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged Yaw Asante Agyekum, who spent over a decade behind bars after being wrongfully convicted alongside infamous armed robber, Ataa Ayi.
Agyekum, who was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2010, had maintained his innocence throughout the legal ordeal. He was accused of being a mechanic for Ataa Ayi’s criminal gang, which terrorised parts of Accra in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Ataa Ayi himself received a combined sentence of 160 years for multiple counts of robbery.
But Agyekum’s legal team successfully argued on appeal that the original trial was flawed.
The Court of Appeal, in its ruling, criticised the prosecution’s failure to present credible evidence linking Agyekum to the crimes.
Notably, he was convicted without legal representation—a fact the appellate court acknowledged as a serious miscarriage of justice.
The three-member panel, comprising Justice Aboagye Tanoh, Justice Stephen Oppong, and Justice Janapare Bartels Kodwo, ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. “The prosecution failed to give enough evidence to warrant conviction and sentence,” the panel noted in its decision.
The ruling marks a significant moment in Ghana’s legal history, raising broader questions about legal representation, the reliability of witness testimonies, and the vulnerability of individuals caught up in high-profile cases without sufficient evidence.
For Agyekum, it is a bittersweet victory—a long-overdue correction of justice after spending nearly 15 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.
