Ataa Ayi’s Mechanic Free After 20 Years In Jail

After spending over 20 years behind bars for a crime he insists he never committed, Yaw Asante Agyekum has finally been acquitted and discharged by the Court of Appeal.

He was sentenced to 35 years in 2010 alongside notorious armed robber Ataa Ayi

Agyekum, a mechanic by trade, was only 24 years old when he was arrested in 2002 and later convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery.

His only crime, according to his lawyer George Bernard Shaw, was repairing motorbikes used by Ataa Ayi’s gang, which carried out a series of robberies across Accra in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“I know Ataa Ayi. I worked for him. I was only 24 years old when I was jailed, but now the court has investigated and knows that I am innocent. This means that repairing a motorbike for someone doesn’t make you a criminal,” Yaw told journalists who were present to interview him after his release.

Despite not being caught in any robbery act, Agyekum was linked to the gang and received a heavy sentence. He had no legal representation during his trial and was found guilty largely based on association.

However, on Thursday, June 5, 2025, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal—comprising Justice Aboagye Tanoh, Justice Stephen Oppong, and Justice Janapare Bartels Kodwo—ruled that the prosecution failed to present enough evidence to justify Agyekum’s conviction.

Justice Aboagye Tanoh, reading the judgment, acknowledged that Agyekum’s case was “a classic example of wrong association.”

He referenced the popular saying, “Show me your friend, and I’ll show you your character,” but quickly added that “there are still good people, and the mechanic was one such example.”

The court emphasized that Agyekum’s connection to Ataa Ayi was weak and circumstantial. After carefully reviewing the appeal, the judges unanimously agreed that the original conviction lacked solid evidence and should not have stood.

“The appellant’s appeal has succeeded, and he has accordingly been acquitted and discharged,” the court declared.

Agyekum’s release marks the end of a painful chapter in his life. He spent over two decades in prison for a crime he maintained he never committed—caught up in a storm that was never his.

Ataa Ayi, real name Raymond Aryee Aryeetey, was infamous for violent robberies including carjackings, home invasions, and jewellery thefts. His arrest in 2005 brought relief to many Ghanaians, but it also led to the conviction of several alleged accomplices, including Agyekum.

For Agyekum, the court’s decision offers freedom, but pain of lost years remain.