• Chairman Wontumi became one of the most senior NPP figures to receive a prison sentence after an Accra High Court handed him a 20-year jail term over illegal mining offences in July 2026.

• Former ministers and public officials from both the NDC and NPP have faced imprisonment over the past two decades in cases involving financial loss to the state, procurement breaches and corruption.

• Not every conviction remained in force, with figures such as Dan Abodakpi and Tsatsu Tsikata later benefiting from legal reversals or presidential clemency.

Political transitions in Ghana have often been followed by high-profile court cases involving former ministers, government appointees and senior public officials.

Over the past 2 decades, officials from both the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been prosecuted over allegations of causing financial loss to the state and procurement breaches to illegal mining offences. Some convictions were later overturned on appeal or ended with presidential pardons. 

Here’s a look at some of the most notable politicians and public officials who have been jailed or sentenced to prison in Ghana.

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The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP became one of the country’s recent highest-profile political figures to receive a custodial sentence after an Accra High Court convicted him on illegal mining-related charges in July 2026. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after being found guilty on 6 counts linked to illegal mining activities at the Samreboi concession in the Western Region. His party has since announced plans to appeal the conviction.

Former Deputy Minister of Finance Victor Selormey was convicted in the early 2000s over the controversial Quality Grain project. He was found guilty of causing financial loss to the state and sentenced to prison during the administration of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Former Finance Minister Kwame Peprah was also convicted in connection with the same Quality Grain case. The former minister was sentenced to a four-year jail term in 2003 after being found guilty of causing financial loss to the state, but he served just under 2 years before being released in 2005.

Alhaji Ibrahim Adam, who served as former Minister for Food and Agriculture, was convicted alongside other former government officials over financial loss-related offences. His conviction formed part of a wider anti-corruption drive following the 2000 change in government.

The Chief Executive officer of Ghana National Gas Comapany George Sipa-Adjah Yankey was another public official convicted in the Quality Grain prosecution. He was jailed after being found guilty of also causing financial loss to the state.

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Former Minister for Trade and Industry and Member of Parliament Dan Abodakpi was handed a 10-year jail term with hard labour by an Accra Fast Track High Court over the acquisition of buses for the NDC’s 2000 election campaign. He was convicted on charges of conspiracy, defrauding by false pretenses, and willfully causing financial loss to the state. His conviction became one of the most politically discussed cases in the country.

However, he served just over one year of his ten-year sentence. In May 2008, President John Agyekum Kufuor exercised his constitutional prerogative of mercy and granted him a presidential pardon on humanitarian grounds, remitting the remainder of his prison sentence. 

Former Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Chief Executive Tsatsu Tsikata was convicted for wilfully causing financial loss to the state. He received a prison sentence in 2008, but the conviction was later nullified after he was granted a presidential pardon by late President John Evans Atta Mills in 2009. He served approximately seven months in total custody, primarily split between prison and the hospital under prison guard.

Former National Communications Authority (NCA) Board Chairman Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie was among three senior officials convicted over the controversial purchase of cybersecurity equipment.

The case centred on the procurement of a cyber defence system, with the court finding that the state had suffered financial loss through the transaction. Former NCA Director-General William Matthew Tetteh Tevie and former Deputy National Security Coordinator Salifu Mimina Osman were also convicted in the same case.

In 2020, the former Deputy National Security Coordinator, Alhaji Salifu Mimina Osman, was sentenced to a five-year jail term by an Accra High Court. He was jailed for his involvement in the infamous $4 million National Communications Authority (NCA) corruption scandal, where he was found guilty of willfully causing financial loss to the state.

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According to court proceedings, the case involved a fraudulent contract with an Israeli company to buy cyber-surveillance equipment; while $4 million was withdrawn for the purchase, only $1 million was actually paid, and the remaining $3 million was illegally distributed among the conspirators.

In 2020, William Matthew Tetteh Tevie, the former Director-General of the National Communications Authority (NCA), was sentenced to a five-year jail term by an Accra High Court. He was jailed for his role in the $4 million NCA corruption scandal, which involved the clandestine procurement of cyber-surveillance equipment.

The court found him guilty of conspiracy to willfully cause financial loss to the state, contravening the Public Procurement Act, and intentionally misapplying public property. Instead of utilizing the full $4 million authorized by the state for the purchase, only $1 million reached the supplier, while the remaining $3 million was illegally siphoned off and distributed among the co-conspirators.