Dr Nana Ayew Afriye and Chairman Wontumi
Senior members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are preparing to visit President John Dramani Mahama to formally apologize on behalf of the party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, according to Dr Nana Ayew Afriye, the Member of Parliament for Effiduase-Asokore.
The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) is currently investigating allegations of financial crimes, including fraud and money laundering, against Chairman Wontumi.
During an interview on Tuesday, June 10, on Channel One TV, Dr Ayew Afriye claimed that President Mahama might be behind Wontumi’s legal troubles.
“For Chairman Wontumi’s case, we’re going to beg. The hand behind this is bigger than the people who run EOCO and the intelligence agencies. I will put it at the doorstep of President Mahama. Wontumi went overboard in some of his videos. And I played a lot of them to show him on June 9. I told him we will go and beg — even if we have to kneel before President Mahama — and tell him that Wontumi crossed the line with these videos,” citinewsroom.com quoted him as saying.
Dr Afriye added that Chairman Wontumi has agreed to apologize for the remarks he made in widely circulated recordings ahead of the 2024 elections. He acknowledged that the comments were inappropriate and personal.
He urged party leadership to approach the issue with humility, noting that while political rivalry is expected, personal attacks based on falsehoods should not be condoned.
EOCO released Chairman Wontumi on June 2 after he complied with his bail conditions. His legal team formally withdrew a motion to appeal the GH¢50 million bail condition on the same day.
KA