I’m disappointed we were unable to see Wontumi – Bawumia

Former Vice President and 2024 NPP flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin were unsuccessful in their attempt to have access to Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, at the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) headquarters in Accra.

Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was reportedly transferred to the NIB following his detention by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Despite being granted permission to enter the NIB premises at Ridge on Friday, May 30, Dr. Bawumia confirmed after exiting the facility that he and Afenyo-Markin were unable to meet with Wontumi.

“We heard that Wontumi was arrested and has been held in custody by EOCO and so we wanted to see him and see how he was doing. We have made those arrangements. Unfortunately, we are here, but the NIB and EOCO feel that the crowd is such that they are unable to bring him here at the moment and that they would have to make proper arrangement to bring him so that we can see him and we are going to continue to make those arrangement.

“We are very disappointed in our inability to see him because we had made prior arrangement and so we have expressed our disappointment and we want to continue and make sure that we can see him.

Dr. Bawumia is said to be leading efforts to meet the GHS50 million bail conditions imposed by EOCO, which require two justified sureties. However, those conditions have yet to be met, leaving Wontumi in continued detention.

In a show of solidarity, several NPP MPs, senior party officials, and supporters gathered at the NIB premises.

Wontumi was first arrested on Tuesday, May 27, by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. He was later picked up by EOCO, which granted him bail on Wednesday, May 28.

The case has ignited political controversy. On Thursday, May 29, Minority MPs staged a protest march from Parliament to EOCO headquarters, demanding Wontumi’s immediate release. The demonstration disrupted traffic in Accra and drew a heavy police response. However, the MPs returned to Parliament the following day, ending their brief boycott.

Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem-Sai, has confirmed that Wontumi is under investigation for serious crimes.

“Suspect BERNARD ANTWI BOASIAKO, a.k.a. Chairman Wontumi, is under investigation for various criminal offences (including fraud, causing financial loss to the State, and money laundering),” he stated in a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.

He further noted that EOCO is leading the investigation, with asset recovery measures already underway to secure suspected proceeds of crime.