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I needs more information before describing Wontumi as political prisoner- Paul Afoko
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Aspiring National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko, has stated that although he sympathises with Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, he would need more information before describing him as a political prisoner.
Reacting to Wontumi’s 20-year prison sentence in an interview at Channelone TV on the 22nd of July, 2026, Mr. Afoko disclosed that his first reaction was one of sympathy because of his own experience with imprisonment.
He explained that when he first heard about the verdict while travelling from Kumasi to Accra, his thoughts immediately went to the conditions in Ghana’s prisons.
“My heart went out to him because I know what prison is like in Ghana,” Mr. Afoko stated.
He noted that after making inquiries about the case, he was informed that changes made to the law during the NPP administration increased the punishment for the offence from a maximum of about five years to a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 25 years.
He observed that the judge imposed a 20-year sentence, adding that even the minimum sentence of 15 years would have been excessive in his view.
Commenting on claims by some members of the NPP that Chairman Wontumi should be regarded as a political prisoner, Mr. Afoko said he was not ready to support or reject that position.
According to him, the party’s General Secretary and other senior lawyers were better placed to explain the legal basis for that claim, and he would first consult them before expressing a firm opinion.
Mr. Afoko recalled that he considered himself a political prisoner in the past because he was arrested from his home and detained without trial.
He stressed that he would rather be enlightened by the party’s legal committee before making further comments on whether Chairman Wontumi should also be described as a political prisoner.
“My heart went out to him, but I would need to be enlightened before calling him a political prisoner,” Mr. Afoko said.
By: Jacob Aggrey
President John Dramani Mahama will be joining African heads of state, business leaders, investors and innovators shaping Africa’s next chapter, at the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum scheduled to take place from 2nd to 4th October 2026 in the historic city of Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
The three-day Alamein Africa Forum is established as a permanent African Business Forum to convene biennially in Egypt.
It is to become the continent’s premier gathering where political power meets entrepreneurial prowess, bridging the established engines of African growth with the new sectors defining its future.
Co-organised by the Government of Egypt, African Export – Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD, it is expected to bring together more than twenty (20) heads of state and government representatives alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
Ghana’s President, who on 23rd September 2026 declared Ghana is open for business in New York after ringing the ceremonial closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market will be leading the Ghanaian delegation, to include the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu – Adjare, to the forum.
Other members of the Ghanaian delegation are the Head and Presidential Advisor for Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, Hon. Augustus Goosie Tanoh, Ghana’s Special Envoy to the Alliance of Sahel States, Colonel Larry Gbevlo – Lartey alongside key Ghanaian private sector players.
Bringing together leaders in politics, business and policy from across the continent, the Alamein Africa Forum will provide a unique opportunity to shape Africa’s growth agenda by aligning policy and investment priorities, mobilising partnerships for implementation and strengthening financing and investment pathways.
The private sector must become an integral part of Agenda 2063, the African Union’s strategic fifty-year masterplan to transform the continent. The private sector is the core economic engine required to turn the African 2063 from an aspirational government roadmap into realized infrastructure, jobs, and value-added trade.
By Chris KONEY
News
Contractors move to site to begin construction of 120-Bed Trauma Hospital at Bole – Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has revealed that contractors have moved to site to begin construction of a 120-bed Specialised Trauma and Emergency Hospital at Bole in the Savannah Region.
According to the Minister, the 16,000 square metre facility will be equipped with modern medical infrastructure to provide emergency and trauma care.
The hospital will have a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Unit, trauma resuscitation bays, emergency operating theatres, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a High Dependency Unit (HDU).
It will also include specialised trauma wards, a burns treatment unit, orthopaedic and surgical units, as well as imaging and diagnostic facilities, among others.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
