Lawyer and social activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has criticised the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for detaining NPP's Ashanti regional chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, beyond the constitutionally mandated 48-hour period.
Chairman Wontumi is currently under investigation for various alleged criminal offences, including illegal mining and money laundering, a situation that has sparked massive public outcry.
Wading in the ongoing situation, Barker-Vormawor, in an extensive post on his X account on May 31, 2025, questioned EOCO's decision to continue keeping the NPP executive without arraigning him before court, describing it as a clear violation of Wontumi's constitutional rights. "This creeping practice of State institutions holding people and claiming that they must meet the executive's bail conditions or stay there till they do without judicial sanction is absurd and unconstitutional," his post read in part.
Referencing the case of Kwabena Adu Boahene, the embattled Executive Director of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), Barker-Vormawor expressed disappointment at the legal strategy employed by the detainees' legal representatives. "What I find strange is that I saw this happen within Adu Boahene and now Wontumi.
