‘Why October?’ – Frank Davies questions delay in Wontumi’s bail application

Frank Davies, the lawyer for Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi, has raised concerns over the rescheduling of Chairman Wontumi's bail application to October 15, 2026. Davies argued that the case, being urgent, could have been heard during the ongoing vacation court period in August or September. Vacation courts were established to handle matters that require immediate judicial attention, including bail applications.

Wontumi, whose real name is Bernard Antwi Boasiako, is serving a 20-year sentence for illegal-mining offenses and has since appealed his conviction and sentence. His lawyers filed a bail application pending the appeal outcome, which was originally set for August 19, 2026. However, the matter could not proceed due to Wontumi and his counsel's absence from court, leading to an adjournment to October 15.

Davies questioned why the matter couldn't be rescheduled to an earlier date within the legal vacation if a judge was unavailable on August 19. He suggested that the case could have been moved to the following week or September instead of October. Davies also questioned the decision to schedule the next hearing for October 15 and raised concerns about whether urgent applications are being treated equally, suggesting that there might be two different sets of rights in the country.