The High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, initially issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Chairman Wontumi after noting that he had failed to show up in court for the trial without providing a reason.
Earlier, the prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney, Stella Ohene Appiah, explained to the court that they were unable to file their disclosures because a witness had travelled outside the jurisdiction without signing his witness statement.
After being rebuked by the judge, the prosecution indicated that the documents would be filed by the close of the day. “We were supposed to have filed our disclosures by today. My lady, we had a little issue with one of our witnesses who went out of the jurisdiction, so he could not sign his witness statement. We didn’t want to do a piece-meal filing.”
Reacting to the absence of the NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman and his lawyer, Justice Kocuvie-Tay issued the bench warrant.
“On 7 October 2025, when bail was granted and the matter was adjourned to today, the court did not fix any specific time for the accused to be in court, which means that the accused and his legal representation should be in court by 9 a.m. for the business of the day to start,” the judge noted.
“Having not given any notice to the court as to their absence, a bench warrant is issued for the arrest of the accused persons,” she concluded.
However, shortly after adjourning proceedings, Chairman Wontumi entered the courtroom in the company of his lawyers, led by Andy Appiah Kubi.
After being briefed on the development, the lawyer filed an application to be heard by the court. Explaining their absence from the proceedings earlier on, Andy Appiah Kubi intimated that he was to blame and apologised to the judge.
