Calls for William Ato Essien to be granted presidential pardon intensify
Notable figures such as KSM and Kofi Ofosu Nkansah have taken to social media to advocate the release of William Ato Essien

There are growing calls for President John Dramani Mahama to pardon William Ato Essien, the former chief executive officer of the now-defunct Capital Bank, who was convicted in April 2023 of misapplying liquidity support from Bank of Ghana and jailed on 12 October 2023 for 15 years.
Those calling for the president to pardon Ato Essien argue that the cases of all the other people who were charged for playing a role in the collapse of various other banks have been discontinued by the current government since it took office.
Consequently, the proponents for the grant of pardon contend, it is unfair for only William Ato Essien to remain in jail.
Notable calls
The calls include pleas by notable individuals who have taken to social media and other channels to advocate for the release of William Ato Essien. They point out that Ato Essien is unwell and uses a wheelchair. He is currently on admission to the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, where he is receiving treatment.
The head of mission for the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC), John Apea, announced that he plans to spearhead a formal petition calling for a presidential pardon for Ato Essien.
Dr Apea said his decision is grounded in his concerns about what he describes as a miscarriage of justice and worsening health conditions affecting Essien.
“This petition is not a defence of financial mismanagement. It is a call for a more balanced and humane approach to justice – one that takes into account not only legal outcomes, but also the human condition and our moral responsibility as a nation,” Dr Apea reportedly said.
“I’m begging you, Your Excellency, please, he’s in a wheelchair, grant him clemency,” Kwaku Sintim-Misa (aka KSM) wrote on his Facebook wall.
“If all others who created the banking sector crisis are free, then why not him too?” Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, the former chief executive officer of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP), also posted on his Facebook wall.
The former president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the lead-up to his retirement, presented a list of 11 persons to the Council of State, seeking members’ consent for him to exercise his prerogative powers of pardon under Article 72 of the 1992 constitution.
Among the people listed was William Ato Essien. However, the Council of State rejected the president’s request.
Sentencing Essien
The high court, presided over by Justice Eric Kyei Baffour, a Court of Appeal judge sitting with added responsibility as a high court judge, sentenced Ato Essien after he failed to meet the terms of an agreement he had reached with the attorney general in April 2023.
He was tried and convicted for his role in the collapse of Capital Bank.
The Attorney General hauled Ato Essien back to court, praying the judge to impose a custodial sentence on the convict for failing to comply with the payment terms he reached with the state after his conviction. Essien paid GHC30 million out of a total of GHC90 million owed to the state upfront and agreed to pay the remaining GHC60 million in three instalments, the first being due on 28 April 2023.
However, he failed to make the first instalment of GHC20 million on the agreed-upon date. His failure to abide by the terms of the settlement triggered the action by the Attorney General, who prayed the court to commit Ato Essien into prison custody, in line with the provisions of Section 35 (7) of the Courts Act 1993 (Act 459), which states:
“Where a person convicted under this section defaults in the payment of any money required of the person under this section or fails to fulfil any condition imposed by the court under subsection 6, any amount outstanding shall become due and payable and upon failure to make the payment, the court shall proceed to pass a custodial sentence on the accused.“
Background
According to the facts as set out in documents used by the court, “The first accused person, William Ato Essien, was the majority shareholder of Capital Bank Ltd (Capital Bank), a wholly owned Ghanaian bank which previously operated as a microfinance company.
“The second accused person, Tetteh Nettey, was the managing director of MC Management Services, a company established by the first accused person purposely for the promotion of the incorporation of Sovereign Bank, another brainchild of the first accused person.
“The third accused person, Fitzgerald Odonkor, was the managing director of Capital Bank from June 2015 to August 2017, and the fourth accused person, Kate Quartey-Papafio, is a businesswoman and chief executive officer of Reroy Cables Company Ltd.”
The fact sheet further said: “Between June 2015 and November 2016, under an application by Capital Bank, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) provided a total sum of GHC620 million as liquidity support to Capital Bank to enable it [to] meet its capital adequacy ratio and to allow it to [to] service its maturing debt obligations.
“In October 2015, the first accused person, aided by the third accused person, caused a transfer of a sum of GHC120 million of the liquidity support amount to All Time Capital Limited (All Time), an investment management and advisory firm.
“At the instance of the first, second and third accused persons, GHC100million of the GHC120 million which had been transferred to All Time was further transferred to MC Management Services, while GHC20 million of the amount of GHC120 million was transferred to Pronto Construction and Supplies Ltd (Pronto Construction).
“The sum of GHC100 million, which was transferred to MC Management Services, was subsequently represented by the second accused person to BoG as initial capital of Sovereign Bank, while the GHC20 million that was assigned to Pronto Construction was used by the managing director of Pronto Construction, ostensibly to purchase shares in Capital Bank.
“Again, at the instance of the first and third accused persons, GHC65 million out of the BoG liquidity support of GHC620 million was transferred to Nordea Capital Ltd, described as an investment bank.
“Of the amount of GHC65 million, the first accused person, aided by the third accused person, caused GHC30 million to be transferred to MC Management Services, which was represented to BoG as additional initial capital of Sovereign Bank by the second accused person.”
The fact sheet also said: “With the aid of the third accused person, the remaining GHC35 million of the GHC65 million was paid into a Fidelity Bank account of Breitling Services, a company also established by the first accused person.
“At the request of the first accused person, the amount of GHC35 million, which was transferred into the account of Breitling Services, was subsequently transferred to Capital Africa Group, a company owned by the first accused person.
“The total amount of GHC130 million, which was represented as initial capital of Sovereign Bank, was eventually channelled by the first and second accused persons into Capital Africa Group, the first accused person’s company, less bank charges.
“The first and second accused persons eventually dissipated the monies transferred into Capital Africa Group.
“Between June 2015 and October 2016,” the facts also said, “the first accused person, with the support of the third accused person, appropriated a total of GHC27.5 million of the liquidity support, which was conveyed in jute bags to the first accused person and purportedly used as payment for business promotion.
“In June 2017, in furtherance of the conversion of portions of the GHC620 million liquidity support, the first accused person caused a sum of GHC100 million to be paid into a Capital Bank account held by the managing director of the following three companies – Maripoma Enterprise Ltd, Hardwick Ltd and Volta Impex Enterprise Ltd – opened purposely to receive the amount.
“The GHC100 million was to be used by the managing director of the three companies, ostensibly as payment for 30% shares in Capital Bank.
“As a cover-up of the conversion, the first accused person prevailed on the managing director of the companies to submit copies of Government Payment Certificates of the three companies valued at GHC135 million to be discounted to GHC105 million by Capital Bank, to be used as collateral for the purported loan of GHC100 million.
“The first accused person then caused GHC70 million out of the GHC100 million that had been previously paid into the managing director’s account at Capital Bank to be transferred to the fourth accused person’s account with Cal Bank Ltd.
“The first and fourth accused persons subsequently caused the amount of GHC70 million in the Cal Bank account of the fourth accused person to be further transferred into a personal account of the fourth accused person purposely opened at Capital Bank to receive the amount.”
The fact sheet summed up the case as follows: “Some time in 2017, after Capital Bank had gone into receivership, the fourth accused person, even though fully aware that Capital Bank had gone into liquidation, attempted to withdraw the whole amount of GHC70 million which had been lodged in her account with Capital Bank but was however prevented from doing so by the receiver.”
Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra
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