Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi) is the NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman
Crime, they say, has no expiry date, and the current prosecution of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), is shaping up to be a clear example of the adage.
It turns out that one of the current cases against Wontumi, where he and three others — Edward Akuoko, Owusu Bempah, and Kwame Antwi, the Director of Akonta Mining Limited — were slapped with seven criminal charges for engaging in illegal mining (galamsey) activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, stems from a petition submitted to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service about three years ago, under the government of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The said petition was submitted to the CID by the current CEO of the Chamber of Mines, Ken Ashigbey; renowned private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu; a private citizen, Kwame Asiedu; and anti-corruption campaigner, Edem Senanu, to the CID boss, DCOP Faustina Andoh-Kwofie.
The petitioners asked the CID to investigate and prosecute Akonta Mining and the Ashanti Regional Chairman for allegedly engaging in illegal mining in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995).
“We wish to petition you on the above subject matter of illegal mining (galamsey), which has caused a loss of parts of Ghana’s forest cover, polluted our water bodies, and poses other threats to us and other Ghanaians,” the petition stated.
In the petition, it was also explained that a review of “the enclosed documentary (annexure 1) by Multimedia (Joy FM) and journalist Erastus Asare Donkor shows that, in August and September 2022 or thereabout, the above-mentioned company and Chairman Wontumi undertook illegal mining/mining operations in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.
“Indeed, the same person conducted prospecting in the same forest without the requisite licence or permit. The petition revealed that a search has been conducted at the company registry, and it has confirmed that Mr Bernard Boasiako is a director and shareholder of Akonta Mining Limited. His co-director and co-shareholder is one Kwame Antwi,” the petition added.
Now, Wontumi and the other accused persons have been charged with three counts of undertaking mining operations without a licence, one count of felling trees in a forest reserve without a licence, one count of abetting unauthorised felling of trees, one count of erecting buildings in a forest reserve without a licence, and one count of abetting unauthorised erection of buildings in a forest reserve.
Details of second case that led to Chairman Wontumi’s rearrest
Read the full petition below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w3y0nn7j76ik84rA3154gyOcJ0Y9B6xS/view?usp=sharing
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