Renowned legal scholar and governance advocate, Prof. Stephen Kwaku Asare, popularly known as Kwaku Azar, has strongly criticised the Amasaman High Court’s decision to reduce controversial evangelist Nana Agradaa’s prison sentence from 15 years to 12 months, describing the ruling as legally flawed and dangerous for the justice system.
In a detailed Facebook post, Prof. Asare questioned the rationale behind the drastic reduction, noting that the appellate court itself acknowledged the trial court acted within the law when imposing the original sentence.
“Once the appellate judge accepted that the trial court acted lawfully, there was no proper legal basis to interfere with the sentence,” he argued.
Prof. Asare explained that an appellate court’s role in sentencing is limited to determining whether the trial court misapplied the law or abused its discretion. He criticised the appellate court for replacing legal reasoning with personal opinion, pointing out that its judgment relied heavily on metaphors, religious references, moral reflections, and expressions of personal discomfort rather than established sentencing principles and precedent.
He further contended that while the court described the original 15-year sentence as harsh, it failed to show how the trial court misapplied aggravating factors such as deliberate deception, lack of remorse, abuse of religious trust, the vulnerability of victims, and the prevalence of similar offences. Prof. Asare described the reduction to 12 months as an overcorrection that diminishes the seriousness of the crime.
The scholar also criticised the court’s focus on the amount of money involved, stating that fraud cannot be assessed purely on arithmetic. He explained that sentencing should consider the method of the offence, the abuse of trust, and the broader harm caused, rather than the sums taken from only a few complainants.
Prof. Asare warned that the reduced sentence undermines deterrence, particularly as the court itself acknowledged that religious-based fraud is common and often targets vulnerable people. He cautioned that the ruling sends the wrong signal that deliberate fraud may attract only minimal punishment and could set a troubling precedent for future cases.
He called on the State to appeal the sentence, arguing that the appellate court misused its discretion, relied on extraneous considerations, and risked weakening public confidence in the criminal justice system. Prof. Asare stressed that the case extends beyond Nana Agradaa as an individual and underscores the need for consistency, balance, and fairness in sentencing, warning against any perception that high-profile individuals receive preferential treatment.
The Amasaman High Court recently reduced Nana Agradaa’s 15-year prison term to 12 calendar months after describing the original sentence as harsh and excessive. While upholding her conviction for charlatanic advertisement and defrauding by false pretence, the court exercised its discretion to vary the sentence.
Nana Agradaa, a former fetish priestess turned evangelist, was convicted for luring victims during a 2022 televised broadcast, claiming to possess spiritual powers to double money. Several individuals parted with cash based on these claims, which were never fulfilled.
The revised 12-month sentence takes effect from July 3, 2025, the date of her conviction.
