Atta Akyea breaks silence on allegedly running to Mahama to seek pardon for Wontumi

GhanaWeb reported on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, that Samuel Atta Akyea, the lead counsel for former New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has vehemently denied rumors that he formally approached President John Dramani Mahama to seek a presidential pardon for his client. You know, it is one thing for defense lawyers to explore every legal avenue and executive clemency option available to their high-profile clients facing severe criminal charges, but it is an entirely different reality when a prominent legal practitioner is forced to publicly clarify the distinction between a formal petition for state mercy and a mere expectation of presidential compassion based on the broader socio-political context of the alleged crime.

The Office of the President, the Council of State, the Judiciary, the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and the broader national criminal justice, executive clemency, and environmental enforcement frameworks are institutionally mandated to foster the fair and impartial administration of justice, ensure the strict adherence to constitutional procedures for granting presidential pardons, and guarantee that executive clemency is exercised based on merit, rehabilitation, and national interest rather than political influence or the perceived ubiquity of a crime. When a lead defense counsel publicly addresses speculation regarding a presidential pardon for a client embroiled in a high-profile galamsey and financial fraud case, it directly reinforces the core principles of legal transparency, executive prerogative, and the foundational need to ensure that the sanctity of the judicial process is not undermined by backroom lobbying or the normalization of environmental crimes.

Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, Atta Akyea categorically dismissed the allegations that he had formally petitioned the President for clemency. “No, please. We didn’t do that,” he stated firmly when directly asked whether he had sought a presidential pardon for Wontumi, who is currently facing multiple charges, including a GH¢30 million Exim Bank fraud and illegal mining-related offenses. However, while denying a formal approach, the seasoned lawyer revealed his underlying expectation that the President might independently choose to show mercy, given the widespread and deeply entrenched nature of illegal mining (galamsey) across the country. “Also, when the case was galamsey-related, we thought that the President, in his own mercy, would say that, look, the nation is awash with galamsey,” Atta Akyea explained. He argued that the Head of State could consider the sheer prevalence of the environmental menace and the alleged involvement of numerous influential individuals across the political divide when exercising his constitutional discretion in cases of this nature, suggesting a broader, more equitable approach to prosecuting galamsey-related offenses rather than targeting specific individuals while others go unpunished.

You know, when such nuanced, highly strategic legal clarifications are mounted by prominent defense counsels to separate formal clemency petitions from the expectation of presidential mercy in high-profile environmental and financial crimes, it highlights the critical importance of ensuring that our executive and judicial institutions maintain absolute transparency in the handling of state prosecutions, so that the fight against galamsey and economic sabotage is perceived as a universal application of the law rather than a selective witch-hunt that prompts defense teams to bank on executive compassion, doesn’t it? As the nation digests these revelations regarding the defense strategy for Chairman Wontumi and stakeholders reflect on the urgent need for an unbiased, ruthless prosecution of all galamsey barons regardless of their political affiliations, the public continues to monitor the situation, recognizing that robust criminal justice frameworks and cooperative dialogue between the Judiciary, the Office of the President, the EOCO, the Ghana Bar Association, environmental watchdogs, and the citizenry are vital pillars for ensuring fairness, legal integrity, and order in Ghana’s justice delivery and national development landscape.

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