By Daniel Bampoe
The long-running criminal trial involving New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, reached a dramatic conclusion on Monday after the Accra High Court convicted and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment for offences related to illegal mining activities at Samreboi in the Western Region.
The Criminal Division of the High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, found Chairman Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining Limited, guilty on all six charges brought against them by the Attorney-General.
The charges centred on the unlawful assignment of mineral rights without the approval of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and the facilitation of unlicensed mining operations on the company’s concession.
In delivering judgment, the court held that the prosecution had successfully established beyond reasonable doubt that Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining permitted Henry Okoom and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to undertake mining activities on the company’s concession without first obtaining the mandatory ministerial approval required under the Minerals and Mining Act.
According to the court, those actions amounted to facilitating illegal mining operations on the concession.
Justice Kocuvie-Tay ruled that the prosecution’s case was supported by compelling circumstantial evidence and noted that the defence never disputed the absence of ministerial approval.
The court held that the failure by Akonta Mining to apply for such approval amounted to an implicit admission that no authorization had been obtained before the mining activities commenced.
During the trial, Chairman Wontumi maintained that he had only granted Henry Okoom permission to reclaim degraded portions of the concession by planting coconut trees and denied authorizing him to undertake mining operations.
He further testified that Okoom had introduced himself as a mine support service provider and that he was unaware the latter was engaged in small-scale mining.
The court, however, rejected that explanation, describing it as unsupported by credible evidence. Justice Kocuvie-Tay observed that Chairman Wontumi failed to produce any evidence demonstrating Okoom’s experience in land reclamation.
The court further relied on the unchallenged testimony of Henry Okoom, who stated that he mined on unworked portions of the concession to recover costs after Chairman Wontumi allegedly failed to provide funds for the reclamation exercise.
Applying the legal principles governing circumstantial evidence as established in the case of Duah v Republic [1987-88] 1 GLR 343, the court concluded that there was no reasonable alternative explanation capable of displacing the inference that Chairman Wontumi knowingly permitted the illegal mining activities.
It also dismissed as an afterthought the defence’s later argument that Okoom was expected to recover his investment from the future sale of matured coconut plantations.
A significant aspect of the judgment was the court’s decision to lift the corporate veil shielding Akonta Mining Limited. Relying on the precedent established in Morkor v Kuma, Justice Kocuvie-Tay held that there was effectively no distinction between Chairman Wontumi and the company in relation to the offences committed.
The court found that Akonta Mining lacked a functioning management or executive board and that Chairman Wontumi exercised complete control over the company’s operations during the period under investigation.
“The corporate veil should be lifted because there is no real difference between Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining in their dealings with the persons permitted to mine.
There was no functioning management board or executive management to act independently. All acts were undertaken by Chairman Wontumi, who was the true de facto holder of the mineral right,” the trial judge ruled.
Following the conviction, the court sentenced Chairman Wontumi to 20 years’ imprisonment. In addition, he was ordered to pay a fine of GH¢120,000, with a default sentence of three years’ imprisonment should he fail to pay the amount.
Akonta Mining Limited was also fined GH¢180,000 on two of the counts for which the company was convicted.
Before sentencing, several defence lawyers took turns to plead for mitigation, urging the court to impose the minimum punishment permitted under the law. However, after considering the circumstances of the case and the seriousness of the offences, the court imposed the custodial sentence.
The judgment brings to an end one of Ghana’s most closely watched mining-related criminal prosecutions, a case that generated significant public interest because of Chairman Wontumi’s influential position within the NPP and the broader national campaign against illegal mining.
The prosecution, led by the Attorney-General’s Department, had consistently argued that Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining unlawfully assigned mineral rights and knowingly facilitated unauthorized mining on their Samreboi concession.
Throughout the trial, the accused denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the activities carried out on the concession were intended solely for land reclamation and not illegal mining.
The High Court, however, rejected that defence and found both Chairman Wontumi and his company criminally liable on all six counts.
