Nana Agradaa Sentence: Judge Explains Why He Reduced Controversial Televangelist's Jail Time
- The full judgment detailing the thinking behind Nana Agradaa’s sentence reduction from 15 years to one year has been released
- The judge noted the sentence was harsh and backed his reasoning with a popular John Kufuor statement
- On July 3, 2025, Agradaa was convicted of engaging in fraudulent activities and promoting charlatanic advertisements
The full judgment in Nana Agradaa's successful appeal case affirmed that the original sentence handed down to the controversial preacher was unusually harsh.
While the Amasaman High Court judge, Solomon Oppong-Twumasi, upheld Nana Agradaa’s conviction, he exercised his discretionary powers to vary the sentence, reducing it from the 15 years of hard labour earlier imposed by the trial court to one year.
Source: Facebook
In the judgment, posted by 3News, the judge held that while the offence by Agradaa, real name Patricia Asiedua, warranted conviction, the severity of the sentence was disproportionate.
He quoted former President John Kufuor, saying the original sentence is akin to “killing a common mosquito with a sledgehammer.”
Though the judge noted some procedural issues, like Agraada referring to herself interchangeably as a petitioner and accused despite being a convict and appellant, the judge said the courts were shifting away from fixating on details and pursuing substantial justice.
What issues led to Agraada's reduced sentence?
Oppong-Twumasi questioned the original judge's assertion that Agradaa did not show any remorse for the offence, thus contributing to the harsh sentence.
He felt there was ample evidence to show that the preacher showed enough remorse.
"The Appellant, through her lawyers, showed a lot of remorse to the extent that the Appellant was even said to have been afraid to even attend the sentencing hearing and that she could not even sleep for days."
"Her lawyers then went down on their knees to beg the court to spare the Appellant a custodial sentence, pleading that as a mother with young children, a custodial sentence would affect not only the Appellant but also her innocent children."
Oppong-Twumasi also said the original judge did not adequately factor in inconsistencies in the prosecution's evidence, while penalising Agraada's lawyers for their inconsistencies.
He held that this enforced a belief of bias on the part of the judge.
"...strangely, in her judgement, the Honourable trial judge only commented on the inconsistencies in the evidence of the defence but did not even, in passing, comment on the inconsistencies in the prosecution's case, thereby reinforcing the belief in the defence that the court shifted the burden of proof on the appellant, which is contrary to law.
The revised sentence is to take effect from July 3, 2025.
Why Agradaa was convicted
On July 3, 2025, Agradaa was sentenced to 15 years in jail for engaging in fraudulent activities and promoting charlatanic advertisements.
She was accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud her congregation during an all-night service and disseminating deceptive videos on social media.
Agradaa advertised on Today’s TV and other social media platforms on October 5, 2022, that she would be organising an all-night service on October 7, 2022.
During this service, she promised to share GH¢300,000 with participants who needed money for business or rent, even displaying bundles of cash in her advertisements to entice the public.
Investigations showed that many people, drawn by these false representations, travelled from various locations to attend the service.
Source: Instagram
During the all-night service, she directed the congregation to form groups of 20 members each and contribute various sums of money.
After collecting the funds, she did not deliver on her promises, leaving the attendees stranded.
While her counsel pleaded for a non-custodial sentence, citing her role as a mother of five and a first-time offender, the prosecution highlighted certain aggravating factors.
These included the premeditated nature of the crime, the surge in similar charlatanic advertisements, and the fact that she was not a first-time offender, having been previously convicted in 2021 for a similar offence.
Nana Agradaa's previous troubles with the law
In 2021, YEN.com.gh reported that Nana Agradaa was arrested by the National Communications Authority (NCA) during an operation.
The NCA's operation with the police was to shut down two TV stations belonging to Agradaa.
Proofreading by Samuel Gitonga, copy editor at YEN.com.gh.
Source: YEN.com.gh
