crackdown
Ghana has jailed opposition heavyweight Chairman Wontumi for 20 years over illegal mining, marking the country’s most significant political conviction in the fight against galamsey.
One of Ghana’s most influential opposition politicians, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, was sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labour in a landmark judgment that could reshape the country’s battle against illegal mining and test the political resolve of President John Mahama‘s administration.
The Accra High Court also fined the Ashanti regional chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) more than GH¢120,000, making him the first senior political figure to be jailed since Mahama returned to power.
Beyond reasonable doubt
“We are disappointed about the outcome of the trial,” lawyer Bernard Owiredu told the media after the judgment. “Certainly, we are going to appeal. It’s mindboggling and unfair to us.”
The ruling is one of the most consequential legal decisions in Ghana’s long-running fight against galamsey – the local term for illegal mining – which has become one of the country’s most contentious political and environmental issues. Illegal mining has polluted major rivers, destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and farmland, threatened cocoa production and repeatedly fuelled public anger over alleged political protection for offenders.
Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay found Boasiako guilty on charges relating to the unlawful assignment of mineral rights and facilitating unlicensed mining operations on the Samreboi concession in the Western Region.
His company, Akonta Mining Limited, was also convicted after the court concluded that prosecutors had proved the essential elements of the offences beyond reasonable doubt.
Intensifying scrutiny
At the heart of the case was whether Akonta Mining had unlawfully transferred or otherwise dealt with its mineral rights without obtaining approval from the minister responsible for lands and natural resources.
On charges relating to the unlawful assignment of mineral rights, the judge said prosecutors had demonstrated that Akonta Mining held the concession, that the rights had been transferred or otherwise dealt with, and that ministerial approval had never been obtained.
“The allegation was never contested. The accused admitted that no ministerial approval was received,” Justice Kocuvie-Tay said.
Evidence from the Minerals Commission detailed the statutory approval process, while the accused themselves acknowledged that no approval had been secured.
We are not going to be intimidated by this. It’s clear that they want to tame us, but we will continue to push this government
The court also rejected the defence’s argument that miner Henry Okum had merely been authorised to reclaim degraded sections of the concession rather than carry out mining.
Justice Kocuvie-Tay instead concluded that the evidence clearly showed mining activity was taking place.
The conviction of a senior opposition figure is therefore likely to intensify scrutiny of whether the Mahama administration pursues similar cases involving politically connected individuals across the country’s mining sector, as public demands grow for stronger action against illegal mining regardless of political affiliation.
Speaking to The Africa Report after the judgment, Henry Nana Boakye, the national organiser of the opposition NPP, says: “We are not going to be intimidated by this. It’s clear that they want to tame us, but we will continue to push this government of Mahama to account to Ghanaians.”
“Wontumi is a tough person. The party will support him to appeal this political trial, and at the right time the truth will be told. The NPP will not be intimidated,” he adds.
