A Ghanaian bar owner who was wrongfully convicted has been awarded compensation of GH¢800,000 by the Supreme Court after wrongfully spending 19 years in prison.
Yaw Appiah, a 48-year-old Ghanaian bar owner, was awarded GH¢800,000 in compensation by the Supreme Court after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
Reports suggest that Appiah was initially acquitted and discharged by the Court of Appeal in 2025 after serving years in prison for an offence he did not commit.
Yaw Appiah was convicted in 2011 and handed a 45-year sentence for robbery. When he was 29 years old, he had already spent five years on remand following his arrest in 2006.
After his acquittal, his lawyers, Augustine Obour and Claudia Coleman, filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking compensation of GH¢2,020,800.
However, the prosecution, led by Principal State Attorney Nana Adoma Osei, argued for a lower amount, proposing between GH¢75,000 and GH¢100,000.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, fixed the compensation at GH¢800,000, citing the legal principle in the Dodzi Sabbah case.
The Supreme Court panel also included Justice Prof Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Justice Samuel Asiedu, Justice Yaw Darko Asare, and Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo.
In a post shared by SIKAOFICIAL, read, “Yaw Appiah, a 48-year-old Ghanaian bar owner, has been awarded GH¢800,000 in compensation by the Supreme Court after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
He spent 19 years in custody for a robbery offence he did not commit, following his arrest in 2006 and subsequent 45-year sentence in 2011. His conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2025, which described the case as a grave miscarriage of justice.
After his acquittal, his legal representatives pursued over GH¢2 million in damages. However, the Supreme Court, applying established legal principles, determined that GH¢800,000 constituted appropriate compensation”.
Some Ghanaians reacting to the developments stated, “If the Court of Appeal can call this a grave miscarriage in 2025, what exactly were the judges doing in 2011 when they handed a man a 45-year sentence for something he didn’t do”.
One X user added, “The court that wrongfully convicted him faces zero consequences. That’s not compensation, that’s a receipt”.
“It’s pathetic and very insulting. For all the painful years with unimaginable emotional trauma, back in prison for a crime you definitely know did not commit? And with all the wasted years. GHS800,000.00 is just not enough”, one X user added.
One netizen who took out his calculator wrote, “19 years. For a crime he didn’t commit.
GH¢800,000 for 19 years = GH¢42k per year. GH¢115 per day for wrongful imprisonment.
Is that justice? Or just legal paperwork?
No money can buy back time. But Ghana owes him more than cash. We owe him reform”.
See the post below:
Yaw Appiah, a 48-year-old Ghanaian bar owner, has been awarded GH¢800,000 in compensation by the Supreme Court after being wrongfully convicted and imprisoned.
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) April 27, 2026
He spent 19 years in custody for a robbery offence he did not commit, following his arrest in 2006 and subsequent… pic.twitter.com/cKnNn9cyGE