Attorney-General must go to Appeals Court to reverse Agradaa’s jail term reduction - Anyenini

Dorcas Agambila 13:58 - 09 February 2026

Samson Lardy Anyenini speaks on JoyNews’ NewsFile, criticising the Attorney General’s inaction following the reduction of evangelist Agradaa’s jail term and calling for an appeal to protect public interest.

Renowned legal practitioner and broadcaster Samson Lardy Anyenini has strongly criticised the Attorney General over the decision not to challenge the reduced prison sentence given to evangelist Patricia Asiedua, widely known as Agradaa.

He warned that failing to contest the ruling would represent a serious lapse in the state’s responsibility to safeguard the public.

Speaking on JoyNews’ NewsFile programme on Saturday, 7 February 2026, Anyenini expressed deep concern about what he described as the Attorney General’s apparent inaction after Agradaa’s jail term was cut from fifteen years to just one year. In his view, the matter should not end there.

He insisted that the Attorney General has a clear obligation to escalate the case to the Court of Appeal in a bid to overturn the reduced sentence. He argued;

This is not a situation where you sit back and say, ‘I secured fifteen years, the court reduced it to one year, and my work is done. No. The state that employs you expects you to pursue this matter to the Court of Appeal and have that sentence reversed.'

Anyenini pointed out that, despite reducing the sentence, the presiding judge upheld Agradaa’s conviction and acknowledged that the circuit court judge had acted correctly. This, he said, raised serious questions about the justification for the drastic reduction in punishment.

He further examined the legal framework governing sentencing, noting that clear statutory limits exist for misdemeanours and felonies. According to him, Agradaa was convicted of both a misdemeanour and a second-degree felony, and even under the previous legal regime, the maximum custodial sentence should not exceed ten years. “Those sentencing thresholds were established for a reason,” he stressed.

Agradaa

The broadcaster cautioned that the state’s silence on the matter could erode public trust in the justice system. “If the state fails to appeal this reduction, it sends a dangerous message and amounts to abandoning its duty to protect the public from spiritual predators,” he warned.

Anyenini also raised concerns about what he termed selective justice, arguing that leniency should not be reserved for prominent or supposedly reformed individuals while less privileged citizens suffer harsh penalties for minor offences. He said;

The so-called repentant are given a free pass, while the poor languish in prison for stealing a goat. Attorney General, it is time to act. Reverse this sledgehammer ruling and restore the teeth of our criminal justice system

He concluded by urging the Attorney General to act without delay to challenge the ruling and reaffirm public confidence in Ghana’s justice system.

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