Photo: Gertrude Araba Essabah Torkoono, Chief Judge
After 19 agonising years behind bars, a Ghanaian man wrongly convicted of robbery has finally walked free—his sentence overturned in a damning verdict that exposes a catastrophic failure of the justice system.
Yaw Appiah, now 48, was only 29 years old when he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for an offence he did not commit. His ordeal began in 2006 when he was arrested alongside five others and charged with armed robbery.
Despite maintaining his innocence throughout the trial, a series of legal blunders saw him convicted and locked away in Nsawam Prison. For nearly two decades, he endured harsh conditions, uncertainty, and the loss of his freedom—all because of a flawed judicial process.
But in a landmark ruling on January 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal finally corrected the injustice, declaring that Appiah should never have been convicted in the first place. The court described the entire case as a tragic miscarriage of justice.
A CASE BUILT ON NOTHING
The facts of the case are as shocking as they are disturbing. Appiah was one of six men accused of attacking businessman Richard Kwakye and his family outside their home in Teshie-Nungua on the night of January 2, 2006.
The attackers allegedly brandished machetes and other weapons, robbing their victims of mobile phones and cash. Following an investigation, police arrested
six men:
• Stephen Quarshie (1st Accused)
• Kwabena Nimako (2nd Accused)
• Yaw Appiah (3rd Accused)
• Kwasi Frimpong (4th Accused)
• Kojo Ameyaw (5th Accused)
• Daniel Ayareba (6th Accused)
During the trial, four of the accused pleaded guilty with explanations. But Appiah and Quarshie denied any involvement.
Yet in a shocking turn of events, the High Court presided over by Justice Charles Quist convicted Appiah, falsely claiming he had pleaded guilty—a claim the Court of Appeal has now confirmed was completely false.
Worse still, the evidence against him was practically non-existent. The Court of Appeal found that:
✅ No direct evidence linked Appiah to the crime
✅ No circumstantial evidence placed him at the scene
✅ The trial judge misrepresented witness statements
COURT BLASTS “ERRONEOUS” CONVICTION
The Court of Appeal, led by Justices Gbiel S. Suurbaareh, Eric K. Baffour, and Samuel Obeng-Diawuo, overturned the conviction in a scathing ruling.
“There was no evidence to link the appellant to the crime,” the panel declared. “It is a tragedy that this man spent nearly two decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit.”
In their judgment, the judges exposed glaring errors in the original trial, including the trial judge’s false claim that Appiah had pleaded guilty.
The ruling noted:
📌 Witnesses never identified Appiah as being part of the attack
📌 The judge wrongly stated that Appiah was present at the crime scene
📌 The prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against him
The Court of Appeal was also highly critical of the original prosecution, saying they had failed to provide compelling evidence to warrant a conviction.
FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
Appiah’s journey to freedom would never have happened without the relentless efforts of his lawyer, Claudia Coleman, who took up his case and pushed for an appeal.
It was only after 17 years in jail that he was finally able to launch his appeal, thanks to the intervention of legal aid services.
The court acknowledged the efforts of Senior State Attorney Dufie Prempah, who admitted that the conviction was flawed.
“The prosecution did not discharge its burden of proof,” she conceded. “The conviction was wrong in law.”
With this admission, the Court of Appeal had no choice but to quash the conviction.
“I LOST EVERYTHING”
For Appiah, freedom comes at a devastating cost. Speaking after his release, he broke down in tears, describing the years of suffering he endured behind bars.
“I lost everything,” he said. “My youth, my dignity, my family… everything.”
“I was an innocent man, but I was thrown into prison like an animal. I had no voice, no hope, no future. The system abandoned me.”
His case has sparked outrage across Ghana, with legal experts calling for urgent reforms to prevent more innocent people from being wrongly jailed.
Human rights activists are now demanding compensation for Appiah, arguing that no one should suffer such a fate in a country that claims to uphold justice.
THE BIG QUESTION: WHO ELSE IS SUFFERING?
Appiah’s case raises serious concerns about Ghana’s judicial system.
💥 How many more innocent people are wasting away in prison due to flawed trials?
💥 How many wrongful convictions have gone unchallenged?
💥 What steps are being taken to prevent this from happening again?
His wrongful conviction has become a symbol of everything that is broken in the justice system—and unless reforms are made, many more could suffer the same fate.
For now, Appiah is free—but justice came far too late.
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