BY Daniel Bampoe
Former Vice President and 2028 flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has moved to calm party members in the Ashanti Region following the conviction and 20-year imprisonment of the party’s Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi.
Dr Bawumia led a high-powered NPP delegation to the party’s Ashanti Regional headquarters at Asokwa for a closed-door engagement with regional and constituency executives, party elders and other leading figures as the party grapples with the political and organisational consequences of Wontumi’s imprisonment.
The engagement followed an earlier visit by Dr Bawumia to Kumasi in the immediate aftermath of Wontumi’s conviction.
He subsequently visited the imprisoned regional chairman at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison before returning to Kumasi on Thursday morning as part of efforts to rally the NPP’s grassroots in its traditional political stronghold.
The atmosphere surrounding the engagement was described as emotional and sombre, with Wontumi having been one of the most influential figures in the NPP’s Ashanti Region organisation for years.
His imprisonment has left supporters confronting both the personal impact of his absence and questions over the immediate leadership and mobilisation of the party in the region.
Dr Bawumia was joined by several senior NPP figures, including former Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Akuapem North MP Sammi Awuku, Effiduase-Asokore MP Dr Nana Ayew Afriyie and Members of Parliament from the Ashanti Region.
Constituency chairmen, secretaries and party elders were also brought into the discussions, with the meeting focusing on Wontumi’s conviction, its implications for the NPP in the Ashanti Region and how the party should proceed while his lawyers pursue an appeal.
The intervention comes after the Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, convicted Wontumi on Monday, July 20, 2026, in the criminal case arising from mining activities connected to Akonta Mining Limited at Samreboi in the Western North Region.
Chairman Wontumi was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of two counts, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently, meaning he is to serve an effective 20-year prison term.
The court additionally imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units on each count.
Akonta Mining Limited, which was also prosecuted in the case, was convicted on two counts and fined 15,000 penalty units.
The conviction brought to an end months of proceedings in which the Attorney-General accused Wontumi and his company of permitting mining activities connected to their Samreboi concession without the approvals required under the mining laws.
Throughout the proceedings, Wontumi denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty. His lawyers vigorously challenged the prosecution’s evidence, including through cross-examination of witnesses and applications filed during the trial.
The legal battle intensified shortly before judgment when Wontumi’s new lead counsel, former Abuakwa South MP Samuel Atta Akyea, raised constitutional questions about provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act underpinning the prosecution.
The defence sought to have questions concerning Sections 14(1) and 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, referred to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Samuel Atta Akyea argued that the provisions were vague and overly broad and raised questions under Article 19(11) of the 1992 Constitution.
The High Court, however, dismissed the application before proceeding to judgment, ruling that the attempt to secure a Supreme Court referral lacked merit.
The conviction has triggered a strong reaction from the NPP, which disputes the outcome and has characterised the judgment as unjust and politically motivated. Those claims remain the party’s position and have not displaced the High Court’s judgment.
The party has consequently instructed its legal team, led by Mr Atta Akyea, to challenge the conviction through the appellate process in an attempt to overturn both the conviction and sentence.
Dr Bawumia’s intervention has therefore taken on significance beyond a routine party meeting. The Ashanti Region remains central to the NPP’s electoral fortunes, while Wontumi has for years played a major role in organising and mobilising the party’s grassroots there.
His imprisonment creates an immediate political challenge for the regional party structure at a time when the NPP is rebuilding after losing power in the 2024 general election and preparing towards the next national elections.
Against that background, Dr Bawumia’s return to Kumasi is being viewed as an attempt to reassure shaken party supporters, maintain cohesion within the regional organisation and prevent Wontumi’s imprisonment from weakening the party’s grassroots machinery.
The former Vice President’s visit to Wontumi at Nsawam Prison, followed by his engagement with Ashanti Regional executives and constituency officers, also signals that the NPP intends to combine its legal challenge to the conviction with a broader political effort to keep its supporters united.
