Amended charges and constitutional procedure lead today's briefing

The Accra High Court has adjourned the GH¢30 million Ghana Export-Import Bank (Exim Bank) case involving the convicted former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to October 13, 2026.

The adjournment became necessary after the prosecution filed an amended charge sheet in which it amended the charge of uttering a forged document by specifying the company whose pro-forma invoice was allegedly forged.

When the case was called Tuesday (September 22), the Principal State Attorney, Joshua Sackey, told the court that the prosecution had filed a new charge sheet and served copies on counsel for the accused persons.

He, therefore, prayed the court to withdraw the charge sheet filed on May 15, 2026, and substitute it with the new one filed on September 22, 2026.

“We wish to withdraw the charge sheet which we filed on the 15th May, 2026, and substitute same with the charge sheet which we filed on the 22nd of Sept. 2026.”

The amended charge sheet, dated September 19, 2026, retains the charge of uttering a forged document under Section 169 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

However, the particulars of the charge now specify that the allegedly forged document was a pro-forma invoice of EPSONS GHANA LIMITED.

The charge sheet alleges that Mr Antwi-Boasiako, in 2017, within the Greater Accra Region, used the forged pro-forma invoice, knowing it was not genuine, with the intent to defraud officials of Exim Bank and obtain GH¢4 million from the bank.

Because of the amendment to the charge, the court is expected to take the pleas of the accused persons afresh when the case resumes on October 13, 2026.

Counsel holding brief for Samuel Atta Akyea for the first and third accused persons, Nana Nti Ofori-Debrah, told the court that he had just received a copy of the new charge sheet and was yet to peruse it and show it to the substantive counsel.

He, therefore, prayed the court to defer the substitution of the charge sheet and the taking of the pleas to the next adjourned date.

“Indeed I have just received a copy of the new charge sheet. I am yet to peruse it and also show it to the substantive counsel,” he said.

“In the circumstance, I humbly pray that both the substitution and the taking of plea should be taken at the adjourned date not too remote from now.”

The court subsequently adjourned the case to October 13, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.

Mr Antwi-Boasiako is facing the case together with Thomas Antwi-Boasiako and Wontumi Farms Limited over an alleged GH¢30 million loss to Exim Bank.

The five-count charge sheet includes defrauding by false pretence, two counts of uttering a forged document, money laundering and intentionally causing financial loss to a public body. The charge sheet alleges that Mr Antwi-Boasiako and Mr Thomas Antwi-Boasiako obtained about GH¢14.302 million from Exim Bank in 2018 by false pretences. It further alleges that the accused persons caused the bank to lose GH¢30 million between 2018 and 2022.

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The Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. Ntim Fordjour, has confirmed that the Minority has secured more than the required 15% support to trigger a parliamentary recall over Ghana’s growing cocaine scandal.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Tuesday, the Assin South MP said the signatures, petition and memorandum had already been filed with the Speaker of Parliament.

Asked specifically whether the Minority had secured the required signatures, Rev. Fordjour said, “Yes, we got more than 15%.”

He said the documents were submitted last week and that the Speaker had acknowledged receipt.

“Oh yes, that was filed last week. The signatures, the petition, and the memo all went together last week. He has acknowledged receipt,” he said.

Rev. Fordjour said the Minority now expects Speaker Alban Bagbin to issue a notice recalling Parliament for an emergency sitting.

“Within this week, that notice of recall is expected. It must go,” he said, adding that the Minority expected Parliament to be recalled by the following week.

“Absolutely. But within this week, that notice of recall is expected.”

The move follows growing concerns over major narcotics seizures linked to Ghana.

The Minority has cited a series of seizures which it says have exceeded US$1 billion in value in less than two years.

These include the seizure of more than 3.3 tonnes of cocaine at Pedu Junction in March 2025 and the recent seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at France’s Port of Dunkirk from a container that had departed Ghana.

The Minority says the developments raise questions about Ghana’s ports, customs controls, intelligence gathering and the fight against organised drug trafficking.

Rev. Fordjour said Parliament must establish the facts through a bipartisan inquiry.

“We need strong leadership, and we need President Mahama on his return from the UNGA to act decisively, and to act as a leader who is fully aware of the repercussions of this cartel.”

He said the proposed parliamentary process should produce practical solutions.

“We are interested in solutions that restore Ghana to its glory.”

He also urged MPs to approach the matter without partisan considerations.

“They should come and not make it politics. They should have Ghana first, constituency first.”

Rev. Fordjour further warned of wider security implications from drug trafficking, linking the trade to money laundering and terrorism.

“Wherever there is drugs, there is money laundering, and wherever there is money laundering, it is linked to terrorism.”

He said the scale of the seizures had pushed Ghana into a vulnerable position.

“Wherever you find, you know, drug trafficking, methamphetamine, and cocaine in the tune of over a billion-dollar bracket, you are now getting into a state of vulnerability, where these non-state elements, these terrorists, that’s what they feed on.”

The Citizens’ Platform on Constitutional Reform (CPCR) has backed the creation of an independent Political Parties Regulatory Commission to regulate political parties and campaigns.

Such a commission, it said, must be established and protected under the Constitution rather than left to ordinary legislation.

It said the CPCR also supported allowing every party member in good standing to vote in the election of party executives and the selection of parliamentary and presidential candidates; and regulating campaign periods, expenditure, financial disclosure and the abuse of incumbency.

The Chairperson of the CPCR Steering Committee, Prof. Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, stated this at a press conference in Accra last Tuesday to state present the CPCR position paper on the constitutional review process and the government’s position paper on the Kwasi Prempeh Constitution Review Committee.

The CPCR is a collaborative initiative facilitated by CDD-Ghana, STAR-Ghana Foundation and the Democracy Hub, bringing together diverse organisations, activists and citizens to coordinate engagement, advocacy and accountability in Ghana’s ongoing constitutional reform process.

She said the CPCR also supported the idea of moving the presidential election to the first week of November, so as to extend the transition period from one month to two.

She stressed the need to confirm the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections to be held on the same day in the Constitution.

Prof. Darkwah said the CPCR also supported the proposal to reduce to 14 days the period for filing a presidential election petition, requiring the Supreme Court to determine it within 30 days and requiring the Electoral Commission to promptly disclose all relevant election data.

She reiterated the need to place clear limits on what the President and government could do between election day and the swearing-in of the next President, “including preventing last-minute appointments, unbudgeted contracts or wage increases, dealings in public lands or assets and bills introduced under certificates of urgency, and making any action taken in breach of those limits void.”

She said it was important to place binding constitutional safeguards on the use of certificates of urgency, so that they are limited to genuine emergencies, supported by publicly available reasons and subject to cross-party approval, adequate parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation.

The CPCR, she said, agreed with the proposal to allow a Ghanaian citizen by birth to serve in Parliament without being disqualified simply because that person also holds the citizenship of another country.

Prof. Darkwah called for an expansion of the functions of the National Commission for Civic Education to include organising national presidential debates and convening civic forums and town hall meetings, under independent and impartial rules and with adequate, protected funding.

She further called for the establishment of an Independent Public Emoluments Commission with a clear constitutional mandate to determine pay and benefits across the public sector, including those of the President and Article 71 officeholders, so that officeholders no longer effectively determine their own remuneration.

She said there was also the need to pass a comprehensive and enforceable Human Rights Act before or at the same time as the constitutional amendments, ensuring that it carried the full range of rights proposed and does not delay, narrow or weaken any right Ghanaians already enjoy.

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