The Accra High Court has convicted the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour after finding him guilty on multiple illegal mining-related offences.
The judgment, delivered on Monday, July 20, 2026 by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, found Chairman Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining Limited, guilty on four of the six charges brought against them under the Minerals and Mining laws.
The convictions relate to the unlawful assignment of mineral rights without the approval of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and facilitating illegal mining activities on the company’s concession at Samreboi.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units (GH¢120,000) on Chairman Wontumi, with an additional three-year prison term with hard labour in default of payment. Akonta Mining Limited was also fined 15,000 penalty units (GH¢180,000) on each of two counts.
The court held that the prosecution had successfully established that Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining allowed Henry Okoom and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to undertake mining activities on the company’s concession without obtaining the mandatory ministerial approval, thereby facilitating unlicensed mining.
During the trial, Chairman Wontumi maintained that he had only permitted Henry Okoom to reclaim degraded land by planting coconut trees and denied authorising any mining activities. He also told the court that Okoom had introduced himself as a mine support service provider and that he was unaware he was engaged in small-scale mining.
However, the court rejected that defence, noting that no evidence was presented to support Okoom’s alleged expertise in land reclamation. It further accepted the unchallenged testimony of Okoom, who stated that he mined portions of the concession to recover expenses after Chairman Wontumi failed to provide funds for the reclamation work.
Relying on the principles governing circumstantial evidence as established in Duah v. Republic [1987-88] 1 GLR 343, the court concluded that there was no reasonable explanation other than that Chairman Wontumi knowingly permitted the illegal mining activities.
Justice Kocuvie-Tay also lifted the corporate veil of Akonta Mining Limited, ruling that there was no meaningful distinction between the company and Chairman Wontumi. The court found that there was no functioning management or executive board and held that Chairman Wontumi was the company’s controlling mind and the de facto holder of the mineral rights throughout the period the offences were committed.
According to the court, all dealings concerning the concession were undertaken directly by Chairman Wontumi, making him personally accountable for the offences.
The judgment, which lasted more than two hours, was delivered in a packed courtroom amid heavy police security. Attempts by defence lawyers to halt the delivery of the judgment were unsuccessful, while several lawyers subsequently pleaded with the court to impose the minimum sentence during mitigation.
The prosecution successfully secured convictions on four counts:
- Assignment of mineral rights without ministerial approval.
- Purposely facilitating the contravention of the Minerals and Mining Act.
- Assignment of mineral rights without ministerial approval against Akonta Mining Limited.
- Purposely facilitating illegal mining activities by Akonta Mining Limited.
The court imposed the sentence within the statutory range of 15 to 25 years prescribed under the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995), ultimately settling on 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for Chairman Wontumi.
Source: InsiderGH.com
