Former Executive Director of the National Service Authority (NSA), Osei Assibey Antwi, is struggling to meet the GH₵623 million bail granted him by a High Court in Accra, despite the bail being reduced from the initial GH₵800 million.
He has been in the custody of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) since October 2025, when he first appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty to all the charges accusing him of stealing about GH₵650 million from the state.
Mr. Osei Assibey has been charged with 14 counts of stealing, causing financial loss to the state, and money laundering.
He is accused of causing a financial loss of GH₵8,256,000 to the state by authorizing transfers from the NSA’s Control Account to e-zwich card number 1177042059, registered in his name.
He is again accused of laundering the GH₵8,256,000 by diverting it into his e-zwich account, knowing the money formed part of an unlawful activity.
The former Mayor of Kumasi is also facing charges of causing financial loss of GH₵55 million belonging to the NSA by authorizing the withdrawal of the said amount from Project Account number 1018631542212 for the Kumawu Farm Project “without expending it on the project.”
On October 30, 2025, a High Court presided over by Justice Kizita Naa Quarshie granted Mr. Assibey bail of GH₵800 million, with six sureties who are to present security in the form of landed property equivalent to the bail sum.
The sureties are to deposit copies of their ID cards with the registry of the court, while the accused is to deposit his passports with the registrar.
The accused was further placed on the Ghana Immigration Stop List pending the determination of this case. The trial was adjourned to December 2 for case management.
Struggling to meet the bail conditions, he applied to vary the terms through his lawyers, arguing that the bail sum was excessive and almost impossible to meet.
His lawyer, Alex Osie Owusu, had described the bail sum as “a record in the history of this country,” arguing that “bail should not be used as a punishment even before he is convicted; God forbid.”
On November 12, 2025, Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, a relieving judge, partially granted the application and reduced the bail sum from GH₵800 million to GH₵623 million, while maintaining all the other terms.
Twenty days later, he still hasn’t been able to meet the bail terms, compelling his lawyers to file another application for variation, hoping the bail sum would be reduced substantially to enable him to execute it and reunite with his family.
However, it turned out that the Office of the Attorney General had not been served with the application, forcing the court to adjourn the hearing to December 11, 2025, for consideration.
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned the trial to January 19, 2026, for case management, as the prosecution could not meet the court’s deadline to file disclosures and witness statements and serve them on the defence.
“Due to a few drawbacks regarding our witnesses, we were unable to meet the said deadline. We therefore humbly pray for an adjournment to enable us to comply with the court’s orders,” Dufie Prempeh, a Principal State Attorney, told the court yesterday.
“We were hoping that as of today, we would have received the documents, but we have not. In the circumstances, we do not have any choice,” Paa Kwesi Kuboadzi, a member of the defence team, responded.
