The Office of the Attorney General (AG) will be calling four witnesses as it seeks to establish the guilt of embattled Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako aka Wontumi and two others, who are accused of facilitating mining on his Akonta Mining concession without lawful authority.
The prosecution has since filed witness statements for all the four witnesses, although two were not served in time, hence the court could not hold a case management conference as scheduled.
The court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, subsequently adjourned the case to November 27, 2025 for continuation.
The NPP official is on trial on allegations he permitted other individuals to undertake mining on his Akonta Mining concession at Samreboi in the Western Region without a written approval from the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
He has been charged with one count of assignment of mineral rights without approval, and another count of purposely facilitating an unlicenced mining operation, contrary to Section 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) as amended by Section 3 of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).
His company, Akonta Mining and another person identified as Kwame Antwi, who is on the run, have been charged with the same offences.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was granted a bail of GH₵15 million by the court.
He is to provide three sureties, two of whom must be justified with landed property within the jurisdiction.
Wontumi was further ordered to deposit his passport(s) with the registrar of the court. The court has also placed him on the Stop List at all entry points of the country.
The prosecution’s brief fact indicates that the police had arrested Michael Ayisi Gyasi, a 50-year-old and 28 others within Akonta Mining’s concession in Samreboi on April 17, 2025, following an operation.
During the arrest, the police retrieved several items, including eight (8) pump action guns, one (1) single-barreled gun, five (5) pieces of metal suspected to be gold concealed in a sachet, four (4) machetes, several water pumping machines, 310 AAA/BB cartridges, and one (1) grease gun.
Others include four (4) motorcycles, two (2) vehicles, 25 serviceable excavators, four (4) non-serviceable excavators and GH₵157,000 cash.
The prosecution says it will pray the court at the end of the trial, for a forfeiture order in respect of all items of value retrieved from the concession.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak