The trial of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, who is being prosecuted by the state for allegedly engaging in illegal mining (galamsey) activities, continues on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.

Videos sighted by GhanaWeb captured the moment Chairman Wontumi arrived at the Accra High Court for proceedings.

Wontumi, who was in the company of his lawyers, could be seen beaming with smiles as he walked towards the court building.

The NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman was in the company of his lawyer, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi, a former Member of Parliament for the Asante Akim North Constituency, and NPP activist Kwaku Osei Korankye Asiedu (KOKA).

It is not clear which trial Chairman Wontumi was attending, as the state has two cases against him.

Details of second case that led to Chairman Wontumi's rearrest

In the first case, the state has charged the regional chairman, his company Akonta Mining Limited, and the director of the company, Kwame Antwi, with six criminal charges.

The charge sheet of the case shows that Wontumi and the other accused persons have been charged with three counts of assigning mineral rights without the necessary approval, as well as three counts of facilitating an unlicensed mining operation.

In the second case, Wontumi and four other accused persons — Edward Akuoko, Owusu Bempah, and Kwame Antwi, the Director of Akonta Mining Limited, who remains at large — were charged with seven criminal offences.

The four accused persons were charged with allegedly conducting illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimri Forest Reserve.

The state has dropped the charges against Edward Akuoko after he decided to be a prosecution witness.



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