Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has disclosed that the Office of the Attorney-General has rejected a plea bargain proposal submitted by lawyers for New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, in connection with criminal charges arising from a loan facility obtained from the Ghana Export-Import (EXIM) Bank.
According to Dr Srem-Sai, although plea bargain discussions had commenced between the prosecution and the defence, the proposal submitted by Wontumi’s legal team did not meet the state’s expectations.
Speaking in an interview with TV3 Ghana, the Deputy Attorney-General said the prosecution had already decided to reject the proposal and was only waiting to formally communicate its decision to the defence.
“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,” he said.
Dr Srem-Sai declined to disclose the details of the proposal, citing the confidential nature of plea bargaining negotiations. He, however, indicated that the offer involved a financial payment but fell short of what the state considered acceptable.
“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,” he stated.