Chairman Wontumi Denies Receiving GH₵50m COCOBOD Payment

Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has strongly denied reports that he received GH₵50 million from the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) during the transition period of the Akufo-Addo administration.

The allegations, which surfaced in recent media reports, claim that Wontumi’s company, Hallmark Engineering, was paid the amount despite a directive from the then-incoming Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah, to halt contract payments during the transitional phase.

Speaking to journalists in Accra on Monday, May 26, after being granted bail in an unrelated illegal mining case, Wontumi described the allegations as false and misleading.

“It is absolutely untrue that I collected money from COCOBOD,” he said, adding that his company followed standard procedures required of all government contractors.

He explained that government contractors pre-finance their projects and are only reimbursed after successful project completion and verification by authorities such as the Ghana Highways Authority and COCOBOD engineers.

“There is no advance payment. The contractor is reimbursed after the project is done and valued. In our case, payment was supposed to be made within 28 days, but COCOBOD delayed for nearly three years,” he stated.

Wontumi emphasized that COCOBOD still owes his company and dismissed any suggestions of financial impropriety.