A video has surfaced of the state of the whopping $45 million COCOBOD road awarded to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.
A leaked document revealed how the Ghana Cocoa Board, made the payment of a whopping US$45 million to a company called Hallmark Civil Engineering Limited linked to Chairman Wontumi.
The money was dished out to Wontumi for the construction of Dadieso-Akontombra Road in the Western North Region within Twenty-Four (24) calendar months.
According to reports, Wontumi company failed to construct the road after receiving the money.
Reports suggest Wontumi’s Hallmark Civil Engineering Limited, was registered in 2018 and was incorporated on February 19, 2018, to do building construction, road construction, and others.
However, the company after registration was awarded a colossal job from the Ghana Cocoa Board with no proof of their skill.
The viral video shared by Ghana Chronicles captured the dusty road Wontumi was given $ 45 million in November 2020 to construct with basically no work done after taking huge sums of money.
Meanwhile, Chairman Wontumi has stated the allegations are absolutely untrue.
On Monday, May 26, shortly after being granted bail in a separate case involving alleged illegal mining, Chairman Wontumi told the media, “It is absolutely untrue that I collected money from COCOBOD”.
“If you are constructing a road, the government doesn’t give you the money upfront—you use your own funds”, he added.
“The contractor is reimbursed only after the road is completed. At that point, engineers from the Ghana Highways Authority and COCOBOD assess the project and value it based on the agreed rates”, he explained.
Wontumi added that the contract specified payment within 28 days of project completion.
However, he asserted that COCOBOD took nearly three years to fulfil its financial obligation.
“So COCOBOD cannot claim they do not owe me,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem-Sai has revealed that Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi is under investigation for fraud, causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.
Justice Srem-Sai also revealed that Wontumi is also being investigated for an International organised crime scheme.
The Deputy Attorney General noted that EOCO is assiduously working with our international law enforcement partners on the second strand of criminal investigations.
According to Justice Srem-Sai, the ongoing investigation is being handled by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), with asset recovery efforts already underway to secure suspected proceeds of crime.
Watch the video below:
After taking $ 45 million in 2020, this is how the road looks now. https://t.co/aRqybf5wpy
— Ghana Chronicles (@_GhChronicles) May 29, 2025
