The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, has been slapped with about seven criminal charges for his alleged involvement in illegal mining (galamsey) in two separate cases.

In the first case, Wontumi is facing the charge of “Assignment of mineral rights without approval, contrary to Section 14(1) and Section 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by Section 3 of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).”

The second charge against him in the first case is “Purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation, contrary to Section 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by Section 3 of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).”

In the second case, he is facing six charges, namely:

Two counts of undertaking mining operations without a licence, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703).

One count of felling trees in a forest reserve without a licence, contrary to Section 1(a) of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).

One count of abetting unauthorised felling of trees, contrary to Section 1(a) of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).

One count of erecting buildings in a forest reserve without a licence, contrary to Section 1(b) of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).

One count of abetting unauthorised erection of buildings, contrary to Section 1(b) of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).

Chairman Wontumi rearrested

So, what punishment would Wontumi get for all these crimes if he is found guilty?

First Case:

For the crime of “Assignment of mineral rights without approval”, Wontumi faces a jail term of not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years if he is convicted.

For the crime of “Purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation”, Wontumi also faces a jail term of not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years.

Second Case:

For the crime of undertaking mining operations without a licence, Wontumi faces a jail term of not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years.

For the crime of felling trees in a forest reserve without a licence, he faces a prison term of not more than two years.

He will also be required to “pay to the Commissioner responsible for Lands twice the commercial value of each tree or of the timber or forest produce which is the subject matter of the offence.”

For abetting the unauthorised felling of trees, he faces a prison term of not more than two years.

He will also be required to “pay to the Commissioner responsible for Lands twice the commercial value of each tree or of the timber or forest produce which is the subject matter of the offence.”

He faces the same punishment for “erecting buildings in a forest reserve without a licence” and “abetting unauthorised erection of buildings in a forest reserve.”

Wontumi, Akonta Mining, director slapped with 6 criminal charges

Total prison term:

If Wontumi is found guilty of all the crimes he has been charged with and is given the maximum sanctions by the courts, how many years is he expected to be in prison?

One might think that the prison term would be the total of all the years for all eight charges, which in this case would be about 106 years.

However, in Ghana, convicted persons are to serve all jail terms for the crimes they have been found guilty of concurrently.

This means that Chairman Wontumi is likely to serve a prison term of 25 years maximum if he is convicted of all the crimes he has been charged with.

BAI/VPO

Meet the two prominent female lawyers with decades of experience at the Bar