The founder of the defunct Capital Bank, Ato Essien, has been granted bail by the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal granted Ato Essien ₵10 million bail, with two sureties.
Ato Essien’s legal troubles began after the collapse of Capital Bank, which was among the financial institutions affected by Ghana’s banking sector cleanup between 2017 and 2019.
He was convicted of financial crimes, including the embezzlement of GH¢620 million in liquidity support from the Bank of Ghana, contributing to the financial instability and loss of confidence in the banking sector.
In October 2023, Essien was sentenced to 15 years in prison for failing to meet the terms of a settlement agreement with the state. The agreement required him to repay GH¢90 million as restitution to avoid jail time.
Despite multiple extensions since December 2022, Essien only managed to GH¢30 million upfront, leaving the remaining GH¢60 million unpaid, leaving the court with no choice but to impose the sentence.
The Court of Appeals decision comes on the back of a campaign calling for presidential clemency for William Ato Essien.
Dr John Apea, the Head of Missions at the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council and Board Member of the Commonwealth Human Rights Office for Africa, has been calling for presidential clemency for William Ato Essien.
According to Dr. Apea Ato Essien is now wheelchair-bound, suffering from a spinal injury sustained while in custody.
Speaking in an X Space on Sunday, Dr. Apea stated, “As it stands now, Ato is not receiving the necessary medical care that a prison facility or within the prison walls that he needs, you know?”
“So that’s why, for me, the clemency is the biggest thing I’m most interested in now, court, case, capital, bank, all that stuff. I don’t want to meddle in politics either. Let the lawyer deal with that one step at a time”.
He added, “But for now, we have to look at what the real issue is. The real issue is that here’s our father, here’s our brother, here’s our son who can’t take care of himself in prison because he’s in ill health.
Do we leave him there? Is that rehabilitation, or is that a death penalty? We don’t have capital punishment for financial crimes in Ghana, but is this a silent execution that we are putting people who are ill through? I don’t think that should be the case,” he said.
Also, the leader and founder of Alabaster International Ministry, Prophet Kofi Oduro, has added his voice to growing calls for President John Dramani Mahama to grant clemency to defunct Capital Bank founder William Ato Essien.
According to Kofi Oduro, Ato Essien knows how to make money; he also knows how to build a business, so he should be pardoned to work and pay his debts to the nation rather than languish in jail.
Speaking to his congregants on Sunday, 6 July 2025, Kofi Oduro stated, “Your Excellency, there is a petition coming to your table, by the lawyers of that young man. Please, that young man is too intelligent for prison, and at the moment, he has a health challenge.
On humanitarian grounds please could he please be added to the people that would be pardoned this year? Ato Essien is the name. That young man knows how to make money, he knows how to build businesses, he knows how to build even a nation”.
Even if Ato Essien owes the nation, let’s release him so he can work and repay, rather than let him die in person. I think that would be a waste of life”, he added.
