Court Of Appeal Frees Alleged Accomplice Of Ataa Ayi After 23 Years In Prison

The Court of Appeal in Accra has acquitted and discharged Yaw Asante Agyekum, who was convicted in 2002 as an alleged accomplice of Ghana’s infamous armed robber, Ataa Ayi.

Agyekum had spent 23 years in prison, serving part of a 35-year sentence for conspiracy to commit robbery. However, the court ruled that he had been wrongfully convicted.

A three-member panel of justices unanimously held that the prosecution failed to establish Agyekum’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt, noting that the evidence presented was purely circumstantial. The decision brings a close to a decades-long fight for justice.

Speaking to JOYNEWS’s Kenneth Gyasi shortly after his release, an emotional Agyekum said, “I knew I was innocent. I always prayed that I would be out of prison.”

He recounted the moment his life took a drastic turn: “I was a motor repairer and used to fix Ataa Ayi’s motorbike. I didn’t know he was an armed robber—I only knew him as a taxi driver in town.”

Agyekum was arrested in 2001 while attending church, just a month after his wife had become pregnant. Throughout his trial and imprisonment, he consistently maintained that his only link to Ataa Ayi was through his work as a mechanic.

His conviction came at a time when Ghana was cracking down on violent crime. Ataa Ayi—born Raymond Ayeetey—was then at the helm of a notorious robbery syndicate known for targeting individuals after bank withdrawals and terrorising communities across Accra and Tema. He was eventually captured in 2005 and sentenced to 160 years in prison with hard labour.

Agyekum’s release has reignited calls from human rights advocates for a comprehensive review of criminal cases from that era. Legal analysts argue that his case highlights serious flaws in Ghana’s justice system, particularly the reliance on circumstantial evidence during high-pressure prosecutions.

There are also growing calls for the state to provide compensation and reintegration support for Agyekum, who spent more than two decades wrongfully imprisoned.

For now, Agyekum says he is simply grateful to be free and is hopeful about rebuilding the life he lost.