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 most notorious armed robber, Ataa Ayi. Agyekum had served 23 years of a 35-year sentence for conspiracy to commit robbery before the court ruled that he had been wrongfully convicted.

The three-member panel of justices unanimously held that the prosecution failed to prove Agyekum’s involvement beyond reasonable doubt and that the evidence against him was circumstantial at best. The acquittal brings closure to a decades-long battle for justice.

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

He recounted the moment that changed his life forever: "I was a motor repairer and used to fix Ataa Ayi’s motorbike. I did not know that he was an armed robber. I only knew him as a taxi driver in the town."

Agyekum was arrested while in church in 2001, just a month after his wife had taken seed. He maintained throughout his trial and incarceration that his only link to Ataa Ayi was professional, through his work as a mechanic.

His conviction in 2002 came at the height of a national crackdown on violent crime, with Ataa Ayi — born Raymond Ayeetey — then leading a sophisticated robbery syndicate. The group was known for ambushing individuals after bank withdrawals and terrorizing neighborhoods across Accra and Tema. Ataa Ayi was captured in 2005 and sentenced to 160 years in prison with hard labor, cementing his infamy in Ghana’s criminal history.

Agyekum's release is reigniting calls from human rights groups for a broader review of criminal cases from that era. Legal analysts say his case exposes flaws in the justice system, especially regarding the reliance on weak or circumstantial evidence in high-pressure prosecutions.

His acquittal also raises questions about reparations for wrongful imprisonment, with growing calls for compensation and support for reintegration after over two decades behind bars.

For now, Yaw Asante Agyekum says he is grateful to regain his freedom and hopes to rebuild the life that was abruptly taken from him more than two decades ago.