- By all accounts, the ongoing saga involving Bernard Antwi Boasiako, alias Chairman Wontumi, is no longer a parochial party matter or a passing media controversy. It has evolved into a national stress test for the moral fiber of our democracy. That the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is now entangled in high-profile criminal investigations — ranging from galamsey operations to financial crimes and transnational money laundering — should rouse not just partisan debate, but public alarm.
This is not merely about Wontumi the man. It is about the normalization of impunity, the erosion of institutional credibility, and the dangerous fusion of political capital with economic banditry. It is about whether Ghana, 32 years into constitutional rule, still possesses the will and tools to hold power brokers accountable — even when they wear party colours.
Chairman Wontumi’s political career is punctuated by arrogance, chaos, and open defiance of internal party democracy. The March 2024 petition by six elected Ashanti Regional NPP executives is instructive. They accused him of dictatorial tendencies, of failing to convene constitutionally mandated meetings, and of running the regional party like a personal fiefdom. Their fears were borne out in the 2024 general elections, where the NPP’s stronghold suffered a bruising: 63.9% of the presidential vote (down from over 75%) and the loss of four parliamentary seats to the opposition. This electoral slip wasn’t engineered by the NDC; it was self-inflicted, courtesy of dysfunction, demoralization, and a regional chairman more interested in consolidating personal influence than coordinating political machinery.
Wontumi’s legacy is not one of grassroots empowerment or strategic vision. It is one of legal altercations, bruised egos, media theatrics, and a cavalier attitude toward public decorum — evidenced most glaringly in his confrontation with the Kumasi Traditional Council and his company’s illegal mining activities in protected forest reserves. That a man with such a record continues to wield unchecked power within a major political party speaks to a deeper problem in Ghanaian political culture: the preference for loyalty over competence, and aggression over wisdom.
Wontumi’s recent arrest by EOCO, reportedly sanctioned by a legal warrant, marks a significant turning point. Ghana’s law enforcement institutions have historically shied away from confronting politically insulated figures, especially those embedded in ruling party structures. That EOCO, in collaboration with international partners, has decided to pursue financial irregularities linked to EXIM Bank and possibly an international criminal ring, signals a welcome — if belated — assertion of institutional backbone. But Ghana has been here before. Our history is littered with politically charged arrests followed by strategic silences, dropped charges, or quiet plea bargains. It is unclear whether EOCO’s pursuit of justice will outlive the political season or whether Wontumi will eventually be shielded by the opaque architecture of elite immunity. That he is struggling to meet a GH₵50 million bail requirement — with two sureties to be justified — may indicate the seriousness of the charges. But it also suggests something deeper: a moment of reckoning for political actors who have operated with impunity under the cloak of loyalty to the ruling elite.
The Minority Caucus’s unannounced protest at EOCO’s offices, led by Afenyo-Markin, is a curious paradox. One might have expected such fiery resistance from the ruling party, not the opposition. That the Minority would abandon parliamentary procedure to defend a senior NPP figure under criminal investigation reeks of opportunistic theatre — not principled resistance. Their protest raises critical questions. Are the Minority MPs now the vanguard defenders of individuals under investigation for financial crimes? Was this a solidarity march for Wontumi — or a broader protest against the erosion of due process? Without clarity or moral consistency, such protests become self-defeating. They trivialize serious concerns about justice and repackage them as partisan stunts. What is even more confounding is the willingness of a political opposition to burn its legitimacy defending a man so deeply associated with the very government they claim is corrupt. If this is the opposition’s idea of resistance, then the public has every right to feel betrayed by both sides of the aisle.
Let us be clear: those calling for Chairman Wontumi to be investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted, are not anti-Ashanti. They are anti-impunity. The attempt to ethnicize the debate is an insult to the intelligence of Ashantis themselves, many of whom are among the loudest critics of Wontumi’s leadership and conduct. Traditional leaders, party elders, and civil society actors in the region have expressed deep disappointment at how his behavior tarnishes both the party and the region’s political heritage. To frame legitimate demands for accountability as tribal animus is not only lazy and dishonest — it is dangerous. It reinforces the worst instincts of Ghanaian politics: that the truth can be buried under the noise of identity politics, and that loyalty to one’s own should matter more than fidelity to the law.
Wontumi is not an anomaly. He is a product of a political ecosystem that rewards braggadocio, patronage, and media manipulation over integrity and service. His rise was made possible not despite the system, but because of it. A system where party loyalty grants immunity, where mineral wealth is privatized by party financiers, and where accountability is always postponed until after power changes hands. This is why the Wontumi affair is a litmus test. It will reveal whether Ghanaian institutions can finally shrug off the suffocating influence of partisan interference. It will show whether the NPP has the internal courage to police its own. And it will test whether the public — weary but not yet powerless — still believes in a democracy where law means something, and justice applies to all.
If Chairman Wontumi is guilty, let him face the law. If he is innocent, let the facts exonerate him — not political muscle or backroom deals. What Ghana cannot afford is another elite scandal swept under the red carpet of convenience. In a time of deep disillusionment, justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done — even if the one in the dock is the self-styled “King of Ashanti politics.” Because the real crown in this republic belongs to the people — not the politicians who presume to rule them.
Kay Codjoe
