Chairman Wontumi sentenced to 20 years in Prison

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment by the Accra High Court over illegal mining activities on his Samreboi concession in the Western Region.
Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, who presided over the Criminal Division of the High Court, delivered the sentence shortly after 11:40am on Monday, bringing to a close one of Ghana’s most closely watched illegal mining prosecutions.
Guilty on All Six Counts
The judge had earlier found Antwi-Boasiako guilty on all six counts brought against him, including assigning mineral rights without ministerial approval and purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended.
The 20-year term falls within the statutory range of 15 to 25 years prescribed for the offences. Alongside the custodial sentence, the court imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units — equivalent to GH¢120,000 — with a default term of three years in prison should the fine go unpaid. Both the custodial sentence and the default term will run concurrently.
Akonta Mining Company Limited, the firm linked to Antwi-Boasiako, was treated more leniently. Rather than a custodial sentence, the court ordered the company to pay a financial penalty after considering what it described as mitigating circumstances.
Defence Pleaded for Leniency
Before sentencing, Wontumi’s legal team, led by Samuel Atta Akyea, urged the court to temper justice with mercy and to consider the minimum 15-year term. His lawyers argued that he had shown remorse, cooperated with investigators, and appeared before the court consistently throughout the trial. They also described him as a family man with no prior criminal record who had contributed to his community and the country.
The court, however, settled on the 20-year sentence after weighing submissions from both the defence and the prosecution.
Background to the Case
The case traces back to a police anti-illegal mining operation carried out at the Samreboi concession on April 16 and 17, 2025. That operation led to the arrest of Michael Ayisi Gyedu and 28 others, with authorities recovering 25 excavators, firearms, vehicles, and cash amounting to GH¢157,000.
Prosecutors argued that Antwi-Boasiako, as owner and controlling director of Akonta Mining, allowed mining activities to take place on the concession without the required approval from the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. The defence maintained throughout the trial that he never authorised mining on the site, insisting that those found there had only been engaged for land reclamation and coconut plantation work.
The Republic is separately seeking a forfeiture order covering the excavators, firearms, vehicles, and cash recovered from the concession. The court is expected to rule on that application at a later date.
A Long Road to Judgment
The case had been closely watched for months, not only because of Wontumi’s prominent standing within the NPP but also amid Ghana’s wider national reckoning with illegal mining, or “galamsey.” Judgment had originally been scheduled for July 3, 2026, before being pushed back after Wontumi changed his legal representation, and again after his new lead counsel sought — unsuccessfully, in the end — to have the matter referred to the Supreme Court for constitutional interpretation before any verdict was delivered.
With today’s sentencing, that long legal battle has now reached its conclusion — though the outstanding forfeiture ruling means the case is not yet fully closed.