Asiedu Nketiah Says Wontumi's 20-Year Sentence Denies NDC an Easy Election Target

• NDC National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah reacted to Chairman Wontumi's 20-year prison sentence in a television interview
• Asiedu Nketiah expressed a specific concern about what Wontumi's conviction means for the NPP's internal leadership race
• The NDC chairman also took aim at the NPP over how the party has responded to Wontumi's imprisonment

National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has said he is pained by the 20-year prison sentence handed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, but not for reasons that might be expected.

Nketiah has explained that his only regret is that the conviction has effectively closed the door on Wontumi's prospects of contesting for the NPP national chairmanship, a contest he believed the NDC would have benefited from.

"What really pained me in Wontumi's case is that now that he is jailed, he cannot become the national chairman. That is my only pain. So, I pray that Abronye should also win so that the election becomes easy for us," the NDC chairman said.

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Beyond his remarks about the chairmanship race, Asiedu Nketiah also turned his attention to the NPP's reaction to Wontumi's sentencing.

Speaking in an interview on Ambassadors TV, a YouTube-based channel, on August 1, 2026, he argued that by rallying behind the convicted chairman, the party was undermining its own credibility, particularly on the issue of illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, and the destruction of water bodies.

"I feel pained when the NPP wants to tarnish the party's image and follow Wontumi in this case. I am most worried. This is not the party I know. They are disgracing the party," he said.

Criminal Court 4 of the High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, found Chairman Wontumi guilty on charges brought under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 995).

The court sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment, with all custodial terms running concurrently. He was additionally fined 10,000 penalty units on each of the six counts against him.

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Wontumi appeals 20-year prison sentence

Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that Samuel Atta Akyea, lead counsel for Antwi-Boasiako, filed a Notice of Appeal at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, eight days after his client was sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labour.

The appeal, which contains more than 20 grounds of challenge, targets both the conviction handed down by the trial court and the severity of the sentence imposed on July 20, 2026.

Source: YEN.com.gh