Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma Central Ebenezer Nii Narh Nartey has stated his opposition to jailing people who have been found guilty of engaging in corrupt activities.

Speaking in an interview on Joy Prime on May 30, 2025, the former NPP legislator asserted that jailing people for engaging in corrupt activities is not good enough.

He said that the focus should be on retrieving monies stolen by corrupt officials and not jailing them.

“For me, I even say that if you find me sitting here, Ebenezer Nartey, being corrupt, that during my term of office as a Member of Parliament, I have done something which is wrong, I have embezzled my common fund in one way or the other, and you feel that you will deal with me.

“... It is better that you retrieve the money from me than me going through some of these things. Because for me personally, honestly, I don't fancy people being sentenced to prison… there's no sense in it,” he said.

Ebenezer Nartey, who made these remarks while reacting to the arrest and detention of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), over alleged corrupt activities and other crimes, said that if the allegations are true, the focus of the state should be retrieving the supposed stolen monies.

“... assuming indeed the allegation you are labelling against Wontumi is true. Let him pay the money and then go to his Ashanti Region or where he's coming from – whether Bosomtwe or whatever village or town he's coming from – and go and build a very huge hospital. And just write at the top, ‘This is the money that Wontumi was stealing, and this is the money that we have retrieved to do this.’ That would be better than to do what we are doing,” he opined.

Chairman Wontumi was arrested and detained by EOCO after reporting to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on Tuesday, May 27, 2025.

He was granted bail set at GH¢50 million with two sureties, both to be justified, after hours of interrogation.

Initial reports indicated that he was unable to meet the bail conditions, resulting in an extended stay in EOCO custody for an additional night.

However, Accra-based JoyNews reports that the politician has, on Thursday, May 29, 2025, managed to secure one surety, with only one remaining to fully satisfy the bail requirements.

The Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem Sai, has disclosed that Chairman Wontumi is under investigation for multiple criminal offences.

These include fraud, causing financial loss to the State, and money laundering.

In a statement posted on social media on Thursday, May 29, 2025, Justice Srem Sai revealed that Wontumi, who has been in the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) since Tuesday, is also implicated in a second strand of investigation linked to a broader international organised crime scheme.

The Deputy Attorney General emphasised that EOCO is collaborating closely with international law enforcement partners to probe this complex network of alleged criminal activities.

Watch a video of the former MP's remarks below:

If the allegations against Wontumi are true, let him pay back the money, build a huge hospital, and label it: ‘Money Wontumi stole was used to develop this.’ — Ebenezer Nartey feels its better to retrieve the money than being sentenced to prison #PrimeMorning pic.twitter.com/OhcgYMkSby

— Joy Prime (@JoyPrimeTV) May 30, 2025