Samuel Atta Akyea has explained that he was out of the country when the High Court sentenced Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years in prison, stating that he had travelled to the United Kingdom to attend his daughter’s graduation ceremony.
The lead lawyer for the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said his absence was due to a personal family commitment and his belief that the court would first determine a constitutional issue raised by the defence before delivering its judgement.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story, Atta Akyea described the situation as unfortunate, stressing that attending his daughter’s graduation was an important obligation.
“It’s very unfortunate because if I should let you know how personal it was for me to join my daughter who was graduating in the UK, I didn’t see how I could have absented myself,” he said.
According to him, the defence team had anticipated that the constitutional questions they had raised would be referred to the Supreme Court for interpretation, a process that would have delayed the trial’s conclusion.
He argued that the issue before the High Court required a referral to the apex court in line with legal procedures.
“There was a constitutional matter staring at the court in the face. We wanted to move that motion, which I knew, if the judge would respect the hierarchy of the court and even the law, that reference should have been made,” he stated.
Atta Akyea further dismissed suggestions that his absence amounted to abandoning his client during a critical stage of the case.
He maintained that he had travelled with the genuine expectation that the constitutional matter would be dealt with before any final judgement was delivered.
“I had not left Ghana to sort of leave my client in that kind of predicament. I left Ghana on good measure that my daughter was graduating, and I needed to be around,” he said.
