‘We’ll sleep here’ — Minority at EOCO over Wontumi’s detention

Members of Parliament from the Minority Caucus have vowed to spend the night at the headquarters of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in protest against the continued detention of NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.

The announcement was made by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin on the floor of Parliament on Thursday, May 29.

He declared that NPP MPs would boycott parliamentary proceedings and physically camp at EOCO until Wontumi is released.

“Until EOCO does the right thing, we on the NPP side will protest by absenting ourselves from Parliament and joining him. We are all going to sleep there with him,” Afenyo-Markin said.

The MPs, dressed in black and red, marched from Parliament to EOCO’s head office in Accra Central. Upon arrival, they staged a sit-in protest at the entrance and pledged to turn it into a full-blown sleep-in demonstration if their demands were not met.

Wontumi has been in EOCO custody since Tuesday, May 27, following a CID invitation over alleged financial misconduct.

Though bail was granted—set at GH¢50 million with two sureties—he has remained in custody after failing to satisfy the conditions.

The Minority described the conditions as excessive and politically targeted.

They say their decision to sleep at EOCO symbolizes both solidarity with Wontumi and a rejection of what they perceive as unfair treatment.

Former MP Kennedy Agyapong has offered to stand as one of the sureties, as pressure mounts on EOCO to justify the continued detention.

With sleeping mats, water bottles, and chants of “Free Wontumi now,” the MPs say they are ready to stay through the night—if not longer—until what they call a “politically motivated harassment” ends.