The Deputy Attorney-General, Justice Srem Sai, has disclosed that the Office of the Attorney-General has rejected a plea-bargaining proposal submitted by lawyers representing Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, in relation to criminal charges stemming from a loan facility he obtained from the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank.
According to Srem Sai, although discussions between the prosecution and the defence had commenced under the plea-bargaining process, the proposal put forward by Chairman Wontumi’s legal team failed to meet the expectations of the state.
Explaining the government’s position in an interview with TV3 Ghana, the Deputy Attorney-General indicated that the prosecution had already made up its mind to reject the proposal and was only awaiting a formal meeting with the defence team to communicate its decision.
“They made a plea proposal of what they want to offer. In our opinion, we are not satisfied, and so we intend to reject it. In fact, we have in our minds rejected it, just that we’ve not had a meeting with them to inform them of our rejection.”
Without disclosing the exact details of the proposal, he stressed that the Attorney-General’s Office was not convinced that the offer sufficiently addressed the issues surrounding the case and, as such, would not accept it in its current form.
“They offered to pay some amount. It’s enough that we are still bargaining. Because plea bargaining is not supposed to be out there. When we finish, we’ll announce the conclusion, but they made an offer.
“It’s enough for the public to know that they made an offer which we found inadequate, and we’re going to meet them to inform them of our rejection.”
Credit: Citi Newsroom