Court Acquits Atta Ayi’s Alleged Accomplice After Over 20 Years in Prison – GhArticles.com
The Court of Appeal has acquitted and discharged Yaw Asante Agyekum, an alleged accomplice of notorious armed robber Ataa Ayi, after spending more than 20 years behind bars for a crime he has now been cleared of.
Agyekum, a mechanic, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in December 2002 at the age of 24 for conspiracy to commit robbery. His conviction was based on his association with Ataa Ayi, real name Ayi Aryee Aryeetey, whose criminal syndicate dominated headlines in the early 2000s for a wave of violent robberies across Ghana.
However, in a ruling delivered on Thursday, June 5, 2025, a three-member panel of Justices held that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to justify the conviction.
Justice Aboagye Tanoh, reading the judgment, noted that Agyekum’s only link to the criminal enterprise was that his workshop had serviced motorbikes used by the gang. He emphasized that mere association did not amount to guilt, describing the case as “a classic example of wrongful association.”
Quoting the popular adage, “Show me your friend, and I’ll show you your character,” Justice Tanoh noted that while circumstantial suspicion existed, it was not enough to sustain a conviction. “There are good people, and the mechanic was one of them,” he said.
The court unanimously ruled that the appeal had merit and set aside the conviction:
“The appellant’s appeal has succeeded, and he has accordingly been acquitted and discharged.”
Background
Ataa Ayi became a household name in Ghana in the early 2000s as the leader of a feared armed robbery syndicate responsible for a string of carjackings, home invasions, and theft of valuables including jewellery and electronics. Despite his elusive nature, he was eventually captured in February 2005 during a police sting.
He was later sentenced to a total of 90 years in prison across separate armed robbery cases.
Agyekum was one of several individuals convicted during the crackdown on Ataa Ayi’s operations. His release comes amid growing calls for justice reform and a re-examination of convictions made during high-profile criminal cases in Ghana’s past.