Court gives Wontumi, State 30 days to conclude plea bargain talks in GH¢30m EXIM Bank fraud case

The High Court in Accra has granted the prosecution and defence 30 days to conclude plea bargain negotiations in the alleged GH¢30 million fraud case involving New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.

The court, presided over by Justice Halima El-Alawa Abdul Baasit, adjourned the matter to August 27, 2026, for further directions after both parties indicated that discussions towards a possible plea agreement were at an advanced stage.

At Monday’s hearing, Samuel Atta Akyea formally announced his appearance as lead counsel for Chairman Wontumi, replacing Andy Appiah-Kubi, who previously represented the accused.

Mr Atta Akyea told the court that following engagements with Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, he was optimistic that the parties could reach an agreement through the plea bargaining process.

“I have conferred with the Deputy Attorney-General and I humbly hold the view that we can do a reasonable plea bargaining in his chambers. In the circumstances, I pray the court to enlarge time to enable us undertake that exercise,” he told the court.

The defence counsel initially requested an adjournment until October to allow sufficient time for the negotiations to be completed.

However, Dr Srem-Sai, who represented the prosecution, agreed that additional time was necessary but proposed a shorter 30-day adjournment instead of the approximately three months requested by the defence.

He explained that although the law allows plea bargaining discussions to continue alongside trial proceedings, the prosecution was willing to suspend further steps because negotiations had reached a critical stage before being disrupted.

“We have received an offer and we have made a counter-offer which we were supposed to conclude last week before the accused person's conviction in another matter derailed the negotiations,” he said.

Chairman Wontumi was recently convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison in a separate case involving illegal mining activities at Samreboi in the Western Region.

Dr Srem-Sai said the conviction prevented the prosecution from meeting with the accused person and his lawyers to finalise the plea bargain discussions.

He added that the prosecution had not yet filed its disclosures in the case and was concerned that doing so at this stage could affect the ongoing negotiations.

“We believe that the new counsel will pick up from where we left off with the previous counsel,” he said.

Mr Atta Akyea agreed with the prosecution’s position but appealed to the court to grant a longer adjournment to give both sides enough time to complete the process.

“The reasoning of the honourable Deputy Attorney-General is sound and I am in agreement with him, save to say that we are pleading with you that we come back in term time (October) and that the charges have been withdrawn and we have come to terms. Two months from now should be favourable,” he said.

In its ruling, the court noted that the law permits plea bargaining to proceed alongside trial proceedings and indicated that it would continue to be guided by the relevant legal provisions.

The case was subsequently adjourned to August 27, 2026, for further directions.

Chairman Wontumi, who is currently serving a prison sentence in another matter, is standing trial together with two others over an alleged GH¢30 million transaction involving the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank.

The latest development follows an earlier decision by the court to allow more time for plea negotiations after both the prosecution and defence reported progress in their discussions. The talks, however, stalled temporarily following Chairman Wontumi’s conviction in the separate illegal mining case before resuming after the appointment of new legal representation.