Chairman Wontumi Sentenced to 20 years in Prison Over Galamsey at Samreboi
- An Accra High Court convicted NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako on two counts linked to illegal mining activities
- Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay found that Wontumi exercised effective control over Akonta Mining Limited, lifting the company's corporate veil
- The court dismissed a last-minute defence application to refer constitutional questions to the Supreme Court before delivering its verdict
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Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
This is after he was found guilty on July 20 of illegal mining offences linked to Akonta Mining Company Limited's concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.
Source: Facebook
Wontumi was sentenced to 20 years in prison for each of the two counts on which he was convicted in the Akonta Mining illegal mining case. The sentences are to run concurrently.
In addition, the court fined Wontumi 10,000 penalty units for each count according to reports from the court.
Akonta Mining Limited, which was also convicted on two counts, was fined 15,000 penalty units for each count.
The six charges he was facing were:
- Assignment of mineral rights without approval against Bernard Antwi-Boasiako.
- Assignment of mineral rights without approval against Kwame Antwi.
- Assignment of mineral rights without approval against Akonta Mining Company Limited.
- Purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation against Bernard Antwi-Boasiako.
- Purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation against Kwame Antwi.
- Purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation against Akonta Mining Company Limited.
How the Court Reached Its Verdict
On the mineral rights assignment counts, the court found that the prosecution had established all required elements of the offence.
The absence of ministerial approval was never disputed, with the accused having admitted that no such approval was obtained.
The court rejected the defence's position that Henry Okum was engaged solely to reclaim degraded portions of the concession, finding instead that mining activities were actively taking place. Okum had testified that he was permitted to mine unworked sections of the concession and use proceeds to finance reclamation work, evidence the court said went unchallenged during cross-examination. Justice Kocuvie-Tay described Wontumi's claim that Okum would recover his investment through future coconut farming as "an afterthought."
On the facilitation counts, the court found that Wontumi had introduced Okum to a person who assisted in acquiring an excavator for the operations, which it treated as evidence of deliberate facilitation.
Although a company ordinarily operates as a separate legal entity from its shareholders, the court lifted Akonta Mining's corporate veil after finding that the company lacked a functional board of directors and that Wontumi exercised effective personal control over its mining operations. He was consequently held personally liable for offences carried out through the company.
The convictions were secured under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 995), which introduced stiffer penalties for illegal mining-related offences.
Source: YEN.com.gh
