A photo collage of Kennedy Agyapong and Bernard Antwi Boasiako

George Oduro, a former Member of Parliament for New Edubiase, has revealed why a property owned by Kennedy Agyapong valued at $20 million failed to meet the bail requirements for the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, when he was in the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

According to him, Kennedy Agyapong’s property had previously been accepted as surety to bail Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, a former Board Chairperson of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), in his ongoing trial.

The bail conditions in that case required two sureties to be justified with landed properties situated in Accra worth GH₵10m.

He explained that despite the fact that the property’s value exceeds the GH₵50 million bail condition set for Wontumi and the GH₵10m for Prof Ekumfi, it was still rejected for legal reasons.

He stated that lawyer for Wontumi, Andy Appiah Kubi, indicated the property documents were already in the custody of the court due to the previous case involving Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi.

Therefore, they could not be used again to secure bail for Wontumi.

“Some people accused Kennedy Agyapong of being behind Wontumi’s arrest because one of his boys, Alex, made certain statements to that effect but I was there when Kennedy Agyapong brought a huge property to bail Wontumi. It was only because of land title issues that he couldn’t.”

“He was genuinely worried that he couldn’t secure bail for him. He made about three calls to the Tema Development Corporation to assess some of his properties,” he said.

He disclosed this in an interview on Movement TV on June 4, 2025.

Expatiating on how Kennedy Agyapong made every effort to secure bail for Wontumi, George Oduro explained that most of the properties that Kennedy presented lacked the necessary land titles, rendering them unusable for the bail process.

“He told Andy that he had used some property to bail Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi, and since Wontumi’s bail condition was GH₵50 million, the same property should suffice because it is worth $20m. But Andy explained that the documents were already in court custody due to legal proceedings and, therefore, EOCO would not accept them.”

Chairman Wontumi was released by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on Monday, June 2, 2025, after being arrested on multiple charges.

His release came after meeting bail conditions with assistance from Bryan Acheampong, the former Minister for Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for Abetifi, who stood as one of his sureties.

A motion to appeal the GH¢50 million bail condition was withdrawn by his legal team on Monday, June 2.

The motion, initially filed on May 30, and scheduled for hearing on Tuesday, June 3, was retracted a day earlier.

On Wednesday, May 28, two additional sureties were added to fulfill the bail conditions.

His legal team, led by lawyer Andy Appiah-Kubi, confirmed that the full bail requirements were met on Friday, May 30.

However, his release was delayed because the bail review application had been filed without his express authorization.

On Thursday, May 29, members of the minority party demonstrated at EOCO headquarters and staged a walkout from Parliament, demanding Wontumi’s immediate release.

They argued that, given his public reputation and low flight risk, he should have been released on his own recognizance.

AM/AME