A 30-year-old former footballer, Mawuli Jonny, has spent the last decade behind bars after what he insists was a catastrophic case of mistaken identity, police corruption, and a wrongful guilty plea. His story, shared in an emotional interview with Crime Check TV, has reignited debate about flaws in Ghana’s criminal justice system, especially in how poor and uneducated defendants are treated.
What Mawuli Claims Happened
In 2015, at age 23, Mawuli says he arranged a paid sexual encounter with a woman named Selina Zakaria through the “Meet Up” dating app. The two met at Sankara, a suburb in the Teshie-Nungua area of Accra, and were heading to his place when a man named Isaac Zanyoh Tutey suddenly appeared.
According to Mawuli:
- Isaac accused Selina of previously stealing from him when he had hired her.
- Isaac snatched Selina’s bag (containing an Infinix phone worth GH¢450 and three condoms) and walked away.
- Mawuli tried to intervene and calm the situation.
- Selina, apparently fearing it was a setup, went to the police and falsely reported that Mawuli and Isaac were working together in an armed robbery.
- The police allegedly built a case claiming Mawuli was the mastermind, with Isaac and three other “gang members” (Kojo, Bashiru, and Bright – all still at large) waiting with machetes and knives to rob her.
Mawuli says he was arrested, denied bail after refusing to pay a GH¢3,000 bribe (while Isaac allegedly paid and was released), and pressured into signing a police caution statement he couldn’t read properly. Most critically, he claims he was misled in court: when asked to plead, he did not understand the difference between “guilty” and “not guilty.” Believing he was simply admitting the facts of the encounter, he pleaded guilty on bad advice and was sentenced to 15 years. An appeal later reduced the term to 10 years.
He also alleges that Selina later admitted she had lied, but by then the conviction was already in place.
Is Mawuli’s Story Plausible?
Several elements of his account align disturbingly well with documented systemic problems in Ghana’s lower courts and police stations:
- Wrongful guilty pleas by unrepresented defendants
Legal aid is severely underfunded in Ghana. Many accused persons, especially the poor, appear unrepresented and are rushed through plea hearings without proper explanation. Judges and prosecutors have been recorded (in undercover investigations by journalists like Anas Aremeyaw Anas) advising or pressuring defendants to plead guilty for lighter sentences. - Police fabrication and bribery
Corruption in bail processing and case building is widespread. Officers have been known to release actual suspects who pay bribes while framing innocent people who cannot pay. - Overcharging minor incidents as armed robbery
Turning a street scuffle or theft into “robbery with offensive weapons” (which carries a minimum 10–15 year sentence) is a known tactic when police want to justify detention or extract money. - Complainants changing stories too late
There are multiple documented cases where sex workers, fearing stigma or violence, initially give false robbery reports, only to retract later when the consequences (long prison terms for the accused) become clear. - Lack of investigation into “accomplices at large”
The fact that the alleged armed gang members (Kojo, Bashiru, Bright) were never arrested, charged, or even seriously pursued raises red flags about the strength of the prosecution’s original narrative.
Counter-Arguments
- Courts do not lightly accept guilty pleas, especially in serious felony cases; judges are required to satisfy themselves that the plea is voluntary and informed.
- Mawuli did appeal and had his sentence reduced, suggesting the judicial system eventually acknowledged some irregularity.
- Without access to the court records, Selina’s alleged later admission cannot be independently verified.
Conclusion
While definitive proof is impossible without the case file, Mawuli Jonny’s account contains far too many familiar hallmarks of wrongful conviction in Ghana – police extortion, inadequate legal representation, rushed guilty pleas, and overcharging – to be dismissed outright.
His story is a stark reminder of how vulnerable poor, uneducated Ghanaians remain when they encounter the criminal justice system, especially in cases involving commercial sex, where stigma and prejudice often cloud judgment.
Ten years of a young footballer’s life may have been stolen by a lie, a bribe, and a misunderstood plea. Whether or not every detail he gave is accurate, the broader truth his case exposes about justice in Ghana is painful and all too real.
[Story sourced from Crime Check TV interview, Ghana]