The National Communications Director of the United Party (UP), Solomon Owusu, has argued that the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, could have avoided his conviction if he had sought the mandatory written approval of the Minister responsible for mining before assigning rights within Akonta Mining’s concession.

Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining Company Limited and the second accused, Kwame Antwi, who remains at large, were convicted on six counts relating to the unlawful assignment of mineral rights and purposely facilitating unlicensed mining operations within Akonta Mining’s concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.

The prosecution said Wontumi, as owner and controlling director of Akonta Mining, allowed Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to undertake mining activities within the company’s concession in 2024 without obtaining the mandatory written approval of the Minister responsible for mining, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act.

An Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie Tay, on Monday, July 20, sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units, with an additional three-year custodial sentence in default of payment.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s New Day programme on Wednesday, July 22, Mr. Owusu said the law clearly required ministerial approval before any mineral right could be transferred or otherwise dealt with.

According to the failure of the NPP stalwart to comply with the laws stemmed from what he described as arrogance of power.

“Wouldn’t it have been easier for him to have contacted the then Minister of Lands and Natural Resources to authorise this transaction? He wouldn’t because of arrogance of power. At that time, he himself was fighting with the former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Abu Jinapor,” he said.

The UP spokesperson further rejected claims that the court did not associate Wontumi’s actions with illegal mining, arguing that the judgment explicitly linked the offences to environmental degradation caused by unlawful mining activities.

“The court takes notice of the gravity of the offences and the need for deterrence to avert the environmental disaster that might befall the nation… The conduct of the first and third accused persons undermines the regulatory framework for the mining sector and contributes to the environmental degradation associated with illegal mining,” he quoted from the judgment.