The Accra High Court has sentenced Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour after finding the ruling New Patriotic Party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman guilty on multiple charges related to illegal mining operations in the Western Region.
The Accra High Court has sentenced Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years imprisonment with hard labour. The prominent Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) was found guilty on multiple charges related to massive illegal mining (galamsey) operations within the Samreboi concession in the Western Region. The ruling was delivered by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay at the Criminal Court 4 Division of the High Court.
The state’s case centered around the operations of Akonta Mining Company Limited, a mining firm heavily linked to and owned by Chairman Wontumi. Investigators revealed that the company had been operating unlawfully inside a protected forest reserve on its Samreboi concession. The prosecution proved that Wontumi and his company had actively permitted and facilitated third-party individuals to execute large-scale, deep-forest mining operations, causing extensive environmental degradation, including the poisoning of local water bodies with hazardous chemicals like mercury.
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The prosecution successfully proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt across six major criminal counts. Wontumi was personally convicted on counts including unlawful assignment of mineral rights without obtaining mandatory prior approval from the sector Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and facilitating unlicensed mining operations inside a forest reserve contrary to Ghana’s strict Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended.
Wontumi originally pleaded not guilty to all charges. The case was initially scheduled for a final verdict earlier in July, but Wontumi’s legal team successfully achieved a temporary deferment to submit written records. On the morning of the judgment, Wontumi’s legal team filed an urgent motion requesting the court to freeze the judgment and refer constitutional questions to the Supreme Court. Justice Kocuvie-Tay completely dismissed the application, declaring it “without merit” and a clear attempt to unnecessarily delay justice.
Following the conviction, Wontumi’s lawyers made an emotional plea for a mitigated sentence, arguing that Wontumi was a first-time offender whose imprisonment would leave hundreds of workers jobless. The judge settled on a custodial sentence of 20 years in prison with hard labour for each count, ordered to run concurrently. A penalty fine of 10,000 penalty units (equivalent to ₵120,000) was also imposed, with failure to pay triggering an additional 3-year concurrent prison term. Akonta Mining Company was slapped with a heavy corporate fine of 15,000 penalty units per count.
Lead defense counsel Samuel Atta Akyea announced that the legal team is preparing to file an official appeal at the Court of Appeal, arguing that the trial judge erred in law by rejecting their last-minute constitutional referral application, that the 20-year sentence is overly harsh for a first-time offender, and that the presence of third-party operators was strictly authorized for land reclamation rather than active mining.
The conviction of Wontumi has sent shockwaves through the ruling NPP, given his powerful status as the party’s regional leader in its primary stronghold. Civil society organizations and the public have widely viewed the ruling as a historic moment of accountability, signaling that politically exposed persons are no longer untouchable under the state’s anti-galamsey enforcement sweep. Activist groups like A Rocha Ghana and the Ghana Youth Environmental Movement viewed the ruling as a critical litmus test for the judiciary.
Source: Accra Street Journal
Last Updated on July 20, 2026 by Samuel Kwame Boadu
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Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Accra Street Journal, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.
