Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has secured the GH¢50 million surety required for the party’s Ashanti Regional chairman’s release from the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).
The Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, had been detained since Tuesday after he was unable to meet his bail conditions.
“An aide to Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says the former Vice President has successfully arranged all the required sureties for the release of embattled Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako,” pro-NPP publication Asaase News reported on Friday.
His arrest comes on the back of an ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities involving the EXIMBANK. He’s also being investigated for other criminal offences of causing financial loss to the state and money laundering, the deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem-Sai, said.
“The criminal investigation is running concurrently with asset recovery processes – to prevent further dissipation of what law enforcement agencies strongly suspect to be proceeds of crime. The suspect is also under a second strand of investigation which is part of a larger international organised crime scheme,” Srem-Sai wrote on X.
On Thursday, NPP minority MPs staged a walkout in Parliament and threatened to boycott parliamentary proceedings in protest over Wontumi’s continued detention. They argued that the bail condition is excessive.
The protest was led by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who called the development unfair. Together with his colleagues, they marched from Parliament to the premises of EOCO.