The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has denied allegations that he authorised prosecution witness Henry Okum to carry out mining activities on the concession of Akonta Mining.
Appearing before the High Court in Accra on Thursday, May 21, 2026, Wontumi told the court that the arrangement between him and the prosecution witness was strictly for land reclamation and coconut cultivation.
According to him, Henry Okum had only been granted access to degraded portions of the concession to reclaim the land by planting coconut trees.
“I didn’t give him permission to mine,” Wontumi stated during cross-examination by Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem Sai.
“He came to reclaim the land and plant coconut trees so that when the coconuts mature, we would share,” he added.
Wontumi, who has opened his defence after the prosecution closed its case, also denied claims that he assisted the witness in acquiring excavators or other earth-moving equipment for mining operations.
“That is not true. I do not know what work he did. He only planted trees and carried out reclamation. I did not assist him in purchasing any earth-moving equipment,” he told the court.
The prosecution, however, argued that Wontumi knowingly permitted mining activities on the concession while deliberately distancing himself from the site to avoid being directly linked to the operations.
According to prosecutors, his alleged business model involved granting individuals access to mining concessions in exchange for a share of proceeds from illegal mining activities — allegations he dismissed as “a blatant falsehood.”
Earlier in the proceedings, the presiding judge, Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, ruled that Wontumi had a case to answer based on evidence presented by the prosecution, including testimony from the second prosecution witness and Wontumi’s caution statement to police.
The court noted that PW2 had testified that he was permitted to mine portions of the concession and use proceeds from the operations to fund reclamation works.
Judge Kocuvie-Tay further observed that Wontumi had admitted granting PW2 access to the concession “only to plant coconut trees to reclaim the mined portion of the concession.”
During Thursday’s hearing, Wontumi acknowledged there was no written agreement documenting the reclamation arrangement.
He also admitted that he never personally visited the concession after granting access to PW2, although he claimed he had received videos showing reclamation activities and approximately 18,000 coconut trees planted on the site.
