Former counsel for the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has disclosed that he intends to appeal his former client's conviction and prison sentence.

Andy Appiah-Kubi said Chairman Wontumi told him just minutes before the court delivered its judgment that he believed he would be sentenced to prison and instructed him to file an appeal if that happened.

Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Monday, July 20, 2026, Appiah-Kubi, who had formally withdrawn from the case before the judgment was delivered, revealed that Wontumi called him shortly before the judgement to express his fears.

"The next thing is that we will proceed on appeal. Based on the evidence on record, I will challenge the judgment any day, anytime.

Read Wontumi's last words before being whisked away to prison

"Wontumi knew before he went to court. He called me this morning and said that if it should happen this way, I should go ahead and appeal on his behalf, “he said.

Chairman Wontumi was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment after the Criminal Court 4 Division of the High Court found him guilty on all six counts brought against him.

In a judgment delivered on Monday, July 20, 2026, Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay ordered that the prison terms run concurrently. The court also fined Wontumi 10,000 penalty units on each of the six counts.

Akonta Mining Limited, which was also convicted on two counts, was fined 15,000 penalty units for each count.
The convictions were secured under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 995), which prescribes stiffer penalties for illegal mining-related offences.

Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining Limited, and a third accused person, Kwame Antwi, were prosecuted over alleged illegal mining activities on the company's concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.

According to the prosecution, the accused unlawfully assigned mineral rights on the concession without the approval of the sector minister and facilitated mining activities without the required authorisation, contrary to the provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act.

AM/VPO

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