HIGH COURT JAILED WONTUMI 20 YEARS OVER ILLEGAL MINING
The High Court in Accra on Monday sentenced Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party and popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years imprisonment for his role in the Akonta Mining illegal mining case.
Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay convicted Wontumi on two counts and ordered the sentences to run concurrently. The court also fined him 10,000 penalty units on each count.
Akonta Mining Limited was convicted on two related counts and fined *15,000 penalty units per count.
The court found Wontumi guilty of unlawful assignment of mineral rights without ministerial approval and purposefully facilitating illegal mining. Akonta Mining was convicted on the same charges.
The judge ruled that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Akonta Mining transferred rights on its concession to Henry Okum without approval from the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.
The court rejected the defence claim that Okum was only doing reclamation. Citing Okum’s testimony, Justice Kocuvie-Tay said he was allowed to mine to fund reclamation. She described Wontumi’s explanation about “future coconut farming” as “an afterthought.”
The court also found that Wontumi introduced Okum to a person who helped him acquire an excavator, which amounted to deliberate facilitation of illegal mining.
In a key ruling, the court lifted Akonta Mining’s corporate veil, holding that the company had no functional board and that Wontumi exercised effective control. He was therefore held personally liable.
Constitutional Application Dismissed
The judgment followed the dismissal of a defence application filed on July 16, 2026 seeking to refer the matter to the Supreme Court. The judge held that Section 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, Act 703 was clear and did not conflict with the Constitution.
The convictions were secured under *Act 703 as amended by Act 995, Ghana’s tougher anti-galamsey law
