Deputy Director of Operations at the Presidency and Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Foyo Gbande, has said he would have personally led a forceful operation to extract Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako (popularly known as Chairman Wontumi), if he had been in Ghana during the initial attempt to arrest him.
Speaking in an interview on JoyPrime on Wednesday, June 18, Gbande revealed his strong stance on the matter, stating, “If I was there—I was outside the country at the time—I would have broken into his house and got him out. But they didn’t do that.”
Chairman Wontumi, who is currently facing charges related to organized crime and alleged illegal mining activities, had initially resisted arrest. During that time, he even called into his own Wontumi FM station, urging the public to come to his aid as national security operatives surrounded his residence.
He was eventually arrested by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on May 27, following an earlier invitation from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Responding to criticism over the aggressive nature of the operation, Gbande defended the tactics used, asserting that the arrest was both lawful and proportionate. “Wontumi was properly arrested, not manhandled. I think that was the most modest form of arrest,” he said.
He further justified the security posture, saying: “When a man tells you he controls the Ashanti Region—that national security must negotiate with him before a former president can visit—you don’t arrest such a person with two police officers. You need a full armoury, including explosives, to pick him up.”
Gbande argued that based on Wontumi’s own claims and posture, security agencies had every reason to be cautious. “You said you are dangerous. Okay, why should I assume you’re not, when I don’t know what is in your house?” he added.
Chairman Wontumi was later granted bail in the sum of GHS50 million after spending a week in EOCO custody.
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