Patricia Asiedua Asiamah, widely known as Nana Agradaa, has revealed that she never accepted her initial 15-year prison sentence as her ultimate destiny, emphasising that her faith in God sustained her throughout her incarceration. In an interview broadcast on Ghana Prisons TV on March 2, 2026, the founder of Heaven Way Champion International Ministry in Weija, Accra, recalled her first moments behind bars and the fear that overwhelmed her. “When I was coming to jail, I was scared. I thought prison meant I was already dead,” she recounted. “So when I reached the prison gate, the only thing I said was, ‘Lord, I surrender myself to you,’ because as I entered, I didn’t know what awaited me.”
She stated that from the beginning, she rejected the notion that she would serve the full term imposed by the court. “From the first day, I never believed I was going to be in prison for 15 years,” she said, adding, “I asked myself, what sin have I committed?” Agradaa said she drew inspiration from biblical accounts, including the stories of Apostle Peter in Acts Chapter 12 and Paul and Silas in Acts Chapter 16, which she believed demonstrated the power of prayer and divine intervention.
“I threw a lot of challenges to God and told him that if indeed he is the God of yesterday, then what he did for yesterday’s people, he should do the same for me,” she said. Agradaa was convicted by an Accra Circuit Court on charges of charlatanic advertisement and defrauding by false pretence. The prosecution said she used televised broadcasts on Today’s TV and social media platforms to solicit money from the public under claims of spiritual and financial breakthroughs.
The prosecution stated that hundreds of congregants attended an all-night service at her church in Weija, Greater Accra, where they handed over sums of money that were never returned. Presiding Judge Evelyn Asamoah found her guilty on one count of charlatanic advertisement and five counts of defrauding by false pretence. Sentencing was briefly delayed pending a pregnancy test, which proved negative, after which she was given a 15-year custodial sentence.
On appeal, however, the Amasaman High Court upheld the conviction but ruled that the sentence was excessive. The court reduced the prison term and imposed a fine, with the revised sentence effective from the date of the original conviction. Her legal team had argued that the punishment was disproportionate to the offences, and the High Court agreed, noting that the Circuit Court had placed undue emphasis on her personality rather than strictly on the facts of the case.
Source: Mohammed Ali
