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The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, is facing a new legal challenge.
The development comes amid ongoing investigations by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
On Tuesday, 27 May, Wontumi was served with a writ of summons from Exim Bank Ghana, shortly after he was picked up for questioning by EOCO.
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This was confirmed by his lawyer, Andy Appiah-Kubi, to journalists outside the EOCO headquarters in Accra on Tuesday night.
We have also received this this afternoon a writ of summons from Exim bank and we are going to respond to the pleadings tomorrow. I'm very hopeful that we'll be able to mount a defense of the writ.
He further indicated that the legal team considers the action by Exim Bank to be a civil matter, distinct from the ongoing criminal investigations.
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When we are in court we will indicate that to the court that this we consider a civil. For which reason Exim bank has issued a writ of summons to us which we are also responding. So this one of a supposed criminal investigation. I am sure and confident that we will be able to also surmount a defense.
Although EOCO has not yet released details of the investigation, Wontumi was reportedly hospitalised after several hours of interrogation.
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The incident has since sparked tension within the political landscape, particularly among NPP leadership and supporters, who have criticised EOCO’s approach as extreme.