Watch Gregory Afoko's reaction moments after court discharged him

Moments after an Accra High Court discharged Gregory Afoko, the man accused of murdering former Upper East Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Adams Mahama, he was captured in a viral video smiling heartily and chatting with a group of men outside the court premises.

In a video shared on X by 1957 News on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, with the caption, “Watch the reaction of Gregory Afoko in the early hours of Monday, December 1, moments after the High Court in Accra discharged him,” Afoko appeared relaxed after nearly eight years of standing trial.

Court discharges Afoko and Asabke in Adams Mahama murder case

Afoko and the second accused person, Asabke Alangdi, were both discharged by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons after the third trial stalled.

The judge cited the prolonged delays, repeated adjournments at the instance of the prosecution, and the absence of a prosecutor during the latest sitting.

The third trial began in 2024, with the prosecution presenting five out of 16 witnesses before proceedings stalled on November 24, 2024.

Afoko trial: My brother’s tracksuit had no acid splashes – John Afoko to court

In court on Monday, December 1, 2025, Justice Simmons noted that the case had suffered about six adjournments without progress, with jurors consistently showing up while the State continued to bear the cost of their allowances.

On what the judge described as the seventh or eighth adjournment without any update from the prosecution, only five of the seven empanelled jurors were present.

She subsequently discharged the accused persons and dissolved the jury, expressing gratitude for their service.

Afoko had earlier been granted bail on Friday, February 21, 2025, after spending almost a decade on remand.

He secured a GH¢500,000 bail with two sureties after the prosecution did not oppose the application.

Background

Afoko and Asabke had been accused of pouring acid on Adams Mahama on May 20, 2015, leading to his death.

The allegation was that they ambushed Mahama at his residence in Bolgatanga and attacked him with a substance suspected to be acid.

Mahama’s wife, who rushed to his aid, also suffered burns. The deceased reportedly mentioned Afoko and Asabke as his attackers before he died while being airlifted to Accra.

The case travelled through two trials, the first aborted in 2019 and the second ending in a hung jury on April 27, 2023, when the jurors returned a 4-3 not-guilty verdict in Afoko’s favour.

The brief facts presented by the prosecution stated that tensions within the NPP in 2015, particularly disagreements involving party leaders Paul Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong, escalated into clashes in Bolgatanga.

Gregory Afoko and Asabke were alleged to have formed a youth group during the period, leading to the events of May 20, 2015.

A post-mortem report later confirmed that Mahama died from shock to the lungs and extensive acid burns.

Watch the video below:

Watch the reaction of Gregory Afoko in the early hours of Monday, 1st December, moments after the High Court in Accra discharged him.

Afoko had been standing trial for nearly eleven years in connection with the death of Adams Mahama, the former Upper East Regional Chairman of… pic.twitter.com/vsDl0sHWrt

— The1957News (@The1957News) December 1, 2025