Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka Wontumi
A High Court in Accra has given Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, another opportunity to file witness statements for all the witnesses he intends to call in his trial for allegedly facilitating others to mine on his Akonta Mining concession at Samreboi.
The court had ordered him to file his witness statements by April 14 to enable the court undertake case management.
However, his lawyers informed the court yesterday that they have filed a repeat application for stay of proceedings at the Court of Appeal, pending the determination of an appeal against the trial court’s ruling on a submission of no case.
The trial court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, had dismissed an application for stay of proceedings pending the appeal, leaving the accused to repeat the application at the Court of Appeal.
“My lady respectfully, pursuant to the directive, a repeat application for stay of proceedings pending the determination of the interlocutory appeal filed by the accused persons in respect of the court’s dismissal of the submission of no case has been lodged at the Court of Appeal,” Ohene Amankwah-Gyan told the court.
He added that the outcome of the application will impact the continuation of the case, and subsequently prayed the court to adjourn the trial.
Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, said although the accused are entitled to repeat the application at the Court of Appeal, they are not entitled to a stay of proceedings pending the determination of the repeat application.
He said the accused have demonstrated that they do not intend to file their witness statements or offer an explanation why the court should not convict them.
He added that the only path left for the court to take was to convict the accused persons, and subsequently urged the court to convict Wontumi and the other accuser.
Mr. Amankwah-Gyan opposed the assertions, arguing that it was erroneous for the Deputy Attorney General to suggest that the only path that is left to the court is to proceed to convict the accused persons “because of a legal step that has been taken by the accused persons to protect their right so accorded by the constitution of the Republic of Ghana.”
Justice Kocuvie-Tay, in her ruling, indicated that notwithstanding the exercise of rights under the law by the accused persons, due process must still be complied with.
She pointed out that a repeat application for stay at the Court of Appeal does not fetter the jurisdiction of the trial court.
She, therefore, ordered the accused to file their witness statements by May 5, 2026 for case management on May 7.
Trial
Wontumi is on trial on allegations he permitted other individuals to undertake mining on his Akonta Mining concession at Samreboi in the Western Region without a written approval from the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
He has been charged with one count of assignment of mineral rights without approval, and another count of 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).
His company, Akonta Mining and another person identified as Kwame Antwi, who is on the run, have been charged with the same offences. They have both denied the charges.
The prosecution called four witness to make its case against the accused persons and the company.
According to a submission of no case to answer filed by his lawyers, the prosecution’s case suffers from fundamental and fatal deficiencies, both in terms of the absence of evidence on essential elements and in terms of the quality and reliability of the evidence adduced.
It argues that the prosecution failed to adduce sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case against them on all six (6) counts charged under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).
BY Gibril Abdul Razak
