The High Court in Accra has given the prosecution and the defence 30 days to conclude plea bargain negotiations in the GH¢30 million alleged fraud case involving the serving convict and Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.
The court, presided over by Justice Halima El-Alawa Abdul Baasit, gave the extension for further directions after both parties informed it that negotiations were at an advanced stage.
It consequently adjourned the case to August 27, 2026, after Samuel Atta Akyea also announced his presence as the legal representative, taking over from Andy Appiah-Kubi.
Mr Atta Akyea told the court that after discussions with the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, he was confident the parties could reach an agreement through plea bargaining.
"I have conferred with the Honourable 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 submitted.
He prayed the court to adjourn the matter to October to give the parties sufficient time to conclude the negotiations.
Prosecution
In response, Dr Srem-Sai said the prosecution agreed that additional time should be granted but proposed a 30-day adjournment instead of the approximately 90 days requested by the defence.
He explained that although Section 162(c)(5) of the law allowed plea bargaining to proceed concurrently with trial proceedings, the prosecution was prepared to waive that right because discussions were almost complete before they were interrupted.
"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 told the court.
Dr Srem-Sai explained that the conviction prevented the prosecution from meeting the accused person and his counsel to conclude the discussions.
He further stated that the prosecution was yet to file its disclosures and believed delaying that process would prevent the disclosures from prejudicing the plea negotiations.
"We believe that a new counsel would pick up from where we left off with the previous counsel," he added.
Defence
Mr Atta Akyea agreed with the prosecution's reasoning, but urged the court to grant a longer adjournment to enable the parties to conclude the negotiations.
"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.
Ruling
The court said the law contemplated plea bargaining running alongside trial proceedings and indicated that the court would remain guided by the relevant provisions.
Background
The serving convict, Chairman Wontumi, and two others are standing trial over an alleged GH¢30 million transaction involving the Ghana Export-Import (Exim) Bank.
At the previous hearing, the court granted additional time for plea negotiations after both the prosecution and the defence informed it that discussions were progressing.
However, the negotiations stalled following Chairman Wontumi's conviction in a separate illegal mining case before resuming with the appointment of a new defence counsel.
