The Minority in Parliament on Thursday, May 29, 2025, staged a walkout in protest of the continued detention of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.
Their action followed the inability of Wontumi’s legal team to meet the bail conditions set by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), which include a GHS50 million bond with two sureties.
Leading the protest, Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin criticized EOCO’s handling of the case, accusing the agency of failing to apply the law fairly.
“Do your work but respect the law. There are many people who have appeared before investigative agencies and they are treated with dignity,” he said on the floor of Parliament. “But the way we are treating ourselves, it will come back and haunt us in 2029. Let’s be careful.”
READ: Minority MPs March to EOCO, Demand Fair Treatment for Wontumi
Wontumi has been in EOCO custody since Tuesday, May 27, over an ongoing investigation linked to alleged financial irregularities involving EXIMBANK.
Afenyo-Markin described the GHS50 million bail as unrealistic, stating, “We don’t have GHS50 million worth of properties. Where is he going to get it from?”
He further declared the caucus’ intention to boycott parliamentary proceedings until the situation is addressed, stating, “Until EOCO does the right thing, we on the NPP side will protest by absenting ourselves from Parliament and joining him. We are all going to sleep there with him.”
The Minority Leader clarified that their protest is not aimed at obstructing investigations but to demand equitable treatment. He prayed that his colleagues will “support this so that with one voice, EOCO will know that when it got to this matter of Chairman Wontumi, Parliament was united”.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Risa Wyettey Cofie
