The Office of the Attorney-General has rejected a plea-bargain proposal submitted by lawyers for Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, in connection with criminal charges arising from a loan facility he obtained from the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank.
The disclosure was made by Deputy Attorney-General Justice Srem Sai, who said although plea bargain discussions had commenced between the prosecution and the defence, the proposal submitted by Wontumi’s legal team failed to satisfy the state.
Mr. Srem Sai said the Attorney-General’s Office had already decided to reject the proposal and was only waiting to formally communicate the decision to the defence.
“They made a plea proposal of what they want to offer. In our opinion, we are not satisfied, and so we intend to reject it. In fact, we have in our minds rejected it, just that we’ve not had a meeting with them to inform them of our rejection,” he said.
While declining to disclose the details of the proposal, the Deputy Attorney-General indicated that it included an offer by Chairman Wontumi’s team to pay an amount to settle aspects of the case.
However, he maintained that the offer was inadequate and did not sufficiently address the issues at the centre of the prosecution.
“They offered to pay some amount. It’s enough that we are still bargaining. Because plea bargaining is not supposed to be out there. When we finish, we’ll announce the conclusion, but they made an offer.”
He added, “It’s enough for the public to know that they made an offer which we found inadequate, and we’re going to meet them to inform them of our rejection.”
The rejection means the plea bargaining process remains unresolved, with the Attorney-General’s Office expected to formally notify Wontumi’s legal team before deciding on the next steps in the prosecution.
