By Collins Sarkodieh 
The Accra High Court has convicted the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, on all six legal charges brought against him. The landmark prosecution centers on illegal mining operations executed on the Samreboi concession within the Western Region.
The formal charge sheet confirms that state prosecutors tried Wontumi, his company Akonta Mining Limited, and his fugitive co-director Kwame Antwi under the Minerals and Mining Act of 2006, Act 703, as amended by Act 995 of 2019. The comprehensive legal breakdown details how the state built its bulletproof case against the politician.
The prosecution team crafted six distinct criminal counts focusing on the illegal transfer of land rights and facilitating unauthorized mining operations. Count One charged Wontumi directly as the controlling director of Akonta Mining for assigning mineral rights without obtaining written permission from the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
Count Two leveled the exact same charge against missing director Kwame Antwi, while Count Three charged Akonta Mining Limited as a corporate entity. Counts Four, Five, and Six charged Wontumi, Kwame Antwi, and the mining firm respectively with purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation, an offense that carries up to twenty-five years imprisonment per count.
Background of Akonta Mining Operations inside Western Region
The forty-nine-year-old entrepreneur and native of Kuntanase officially incorporated Akonta Mining Limited on November 5, 2010, listing exploration as its main business. Although the firm listed Tarkwa as its headquarters, its active field machinery operated heavily inside the Samreboi forest area.
During police interrogations, Wontumi claimed he had not seen his co-director Kwame Antwi since they filed registration papers back in 2010. Police investigations established that Wontumi exercised absolute operational control over the mining company, making him personally liable for its field activities.
The legal prosecution follows a massive joint security raid executed in the Samreboi area between April 16 and April 17, 2025. State security officers arrested supervisor Michael Ayisi Gyedu along with twenty-eight illegal workers active on the Akonta Mining site.
Police operatives seized eight pump-action guns, one single-barreled gun, five gold pieces hidden in sachets, four machetes, and three hundred and ten ammunition cartridges. Security forces also impounded twenty-five working excavators, four broken excavators, two motor vehicles, and cash amounting to one hundred and fifty-seven thousand Ghana cedis.
Upon arrest, supervisor Michael Gyedu named Henry Okum as his immediate boss. Under interrogation, Okum confessed that he met Wontumi in September 2024 to seek direct permission to mine the Samreboi land, a request the politician granted.
In court, Wontumi denied ever authorizing mining, claiming his company never operated because it lacked parliamentary ratification. He insisted Okum was only hired for land reclamation and coconut farming, calling former ministers George Mireku-Duker and Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah as defense witnesses, but the judge rejected his claims.
Also Read: Video: Chairman Wontumi Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison in Akonta Mining Case
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