Lead counsel for NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Wontumi, Samuel Atta Akyea, has accused the prosecution of using state powers to frustrate his client by pursuing criminal charges over what he considers a civil debt dispute with the Ghana Export-Import Bank (GEXIM).
Mr Atta Akyea said the dispute should be handled through civil proceedings to recover any outstanding loan rather than criminal prosecution.
“I believe that this is an attempt of you using the powers of the state to wade into a civil matter,” he told reporters immediately after court proceedings on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
“This is a civil debt from my perspective and I don’t see why they should criminalise the transaction.”
He warned that the approach could turn the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) into a debt recovery agency instead of allowing it to focus on matters within its mandate.
“If you are not careful, then EOCO will be reduced to a debt collector,” he said, adding that this was not the remedy provided by Supreme Court decisions.
Mr Atta Akyea argued that where a borrower defaults on a loan, the lending institution should pursue repayment and enforce any collateral securities provided for the facility.
“If a man owes money, the bank should pursue the man for the money. If there were collateral securities upon which the loans were advanced so that in the event that you default the bank will fall on the collateral securities, so be it,” he said.
He maintained that the existence of a loan dispute did not, by itself, establish criminal conduct.
