The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, has been given a last chance to submit his witness statements in the Samreboi illegal mining case, if he intends to do so.
The move comes after he missed an April 14, 2026, cutoff set by the court. Bosiako, widely called Chairman Wontumi, is on trial over claims that he allowed mining on his Akonta Mining concession in Samreboi without approval from the sector minister.
At the end of the prosecution’s case, the court told him to begin his defence and laid out his legal choices, including giving evidence himself, calling witnesses, or making an unsworn statement.
He was first directed to file his witness statements by March 16, 2026.
Instead, Chairman Wontumi lodged an appeal against the submission of no case at the Court of Appeal and later asked the trial court to pause proceedings until the appeal is decided.
The request was turned down and he was ordered to file his witness statements by April 14, 2026, if he planned to go ahead with his defence before a case management conference.
However, when the matter came up on Monday, April 20, at the High Court for a case management conference, his lawyers had still not complied. His counsel told the court that a fresh application for a stay of proceedings had been filed at the Court of Appeal and asked for an adjournment until a ruling is given.
The plea was opposed by Deputy Attorney General, Justice Srem-Sai, who called the step a stalling move. He argued that filing a fresh application does not automatically grant the accused a stay of proceedings and pressed the court to move toward conviction, citing what he described as a failure by the accused to mount a defence.
Presiding judge Audrey Kocuvie-Tay refused the adjournment request. Instead, she directed Bosiako to submit his witness statements by May 5, 2026, ahead of a case management conference fixed for May 7. The judge further stated that proceedings will go on while the court waits for the Court of Appeal’s decision.
