The Ashanti Region Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour after an Accra High Court convicted him on all six counts brought against him in the Samreboi illegal mining case.
Delivering judgment on Monday, July 20, Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay of the Criminal Court 4 Division found Chairman Wontumi guilty of unlawfully assigning mineral rights without ministerial approval and purposely facilitating illegal mining activities on his company’s concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.
The sentences will run concurrently, and the court additionally fined him 10,000 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢120,000, with a default term of three years should the fine go unpaid.
Akonta Mining Company Limited, the firm linked to Chairman Wontumi, was also convicted on related counts but was spared a custodial sentence, instead receiving a fine of 15,000 penalty units per count after the court considered mitigating circumstances.
A third accused, Kwame Antwi, was also part of the trial.
Before sentencing, defence lawyers led by Samuel Atta Akyea urged the court to temper justice with mercy and impose the minimum 15-year term, citing signs of remorse.
Earlier in day, the court dismissed a last-minute defence application seeking to defer the judgment and refer constitutional questions to the Supreme Court, after Atta Akyea’s stand-in counsel revealed the lead lawyer was out of the country.
The conviction comes as a significant blow for Chairman Wontumi, who had declared interest in contesting for his party’s national chairmanship position.
He has served notice to appeal the judgement.