Kofi Oduro Questions Wontumi's 20-Year Prison Sentence, Calls for Financial Penalties

• Reverend Kofi Oduro publicly questioned the value of imprisoning Chairman Wontumi for 20 years over illegal mining
• The pastor argued that a financial penalty of up to $10 billion would better serve Ghana's efforts to reclaim damaged lands
• Kofi Oduro called on the judiciary to allow Wontumi to liquidate his assets as an alternative to serving his sentence

Reverend Kofi Oduro has publicly questioned the decision to sentence businessman and politician Bernard Antwi Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years in prison, arguing that financial restitution would have served Ghana better than incarceration.

Speaking in a video shared on social media on Tuesday, 9 September 2026, Kofi Oduro proposed that Wontumi should have been presented with an alternative: pay an enormous financial penalty or face imprisonment.

Kofi Oduro's case for financial restitution

"What is the use of sentencing Wontumi to 20 years in prison? We should have given him options. 20 years in prison or $10 billion. He would have chosen the latter," Oduro said.

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His argument centres on Ghana's need for substantial resources to rehabilitate lands ravaged by illegal mining, known locally as galamsey.

Kofi Oduro maintained that keeping Wontumi behind bars, without recovering significant funds, does nothing to address the environmental destruction at the heart of the case.

"Now that he has been sent to prison, what is the sense in it? He has wronged and is being punished, but he should have been given options to pay back because the country needs that money to reclaim the damaged lands," he added.

Oduro went further, appealing directly to the judiciary to consider asset seizure and sale as a viable path to restitution.

"The judiciary should give him options. Nobody would choose 20 years in prison. Let him sell all his properties to pay back," he urged.

Oduro on cost of keeping Wontumi imprisoned

Beyond the environmental argument, Oduro raised the question of the financial burden the state now bears by keeping Wontumi in custody.

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He pointed out that the government would be responsible for feeding and providing medical care for the convict throughout his sentence.

"He is now in prison, and you are feeding him, and when he is sick, he is moved in and out, wasting fuel," Oduro said.

His remarks have prompted wider discussion about whether custodial sentences alone are a sufficient response in cases where environmental damage on a large scale has been caused.

Critics of the galamsey menace have long debated the most effective deterrents, with some advocates pushing for punitive financial penalties alongside or in place of prison terms.

Wontumi, a former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, was sentenced to 20 years in prison following his conviction in connection with illegal mining activities.

The X video of Kofi Oduro is below.

Wontumi files for bail after 20-year sentence

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported on Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Wontumi, who has filed a bail application at the High Court following his sentencing to 20 years in prison for illegal mining activities.

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The application, led by his lawyer Samuel Atta Akyea, is set to be heard on August 19, 2026.

The outcome of this appeal could have far-reaching effects on both his future and the political landscape within the New Patriotic Party.

Source: YEN.com.gh