NPP holds emergency meeting after Wontumi’s 20-year jail sentence

The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has convened an emergency meeting following the conviction and sentencing of its Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, in the Akonta Mining illegal mining case.

The meeting, which involves the party’s leadership, its flagbearer and legal team, is expected to review the High Court judgment and determine the party’s next course of action.

In a statement issued on Monday, July 20, 2026, NPP General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong said the party would announce its official position after the deliberations.

“The leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), together with our Flagbearer and the Party’s legal team, is currently in a meeting to thoroughly review the judgement delivered by the Court in the case involving our Ashanti Regional Chairman, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, concerning the Samreboi mining matter, and to determine the appropriate next course of action,” the statement said.

The party called on its members and supporters to remain calm and united as the leadership considers its response to the judgment.

“Let us remain calm, united, disciplined, and steadfast in our commitment to the values and interests of the New Patriotic Party,” Mr Frimpong urged.

The emergency meeting follows the sentencing of Chairman Wontumi to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of two counts after the High Court in Accra found him guilty of offences relating to unlawful dealings in mineral rights and facilitating illegal mining.

The sentences are to run concurrently, meaning he will serve a 20-year prison term. The court also imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units on him for each count.

Akonta Mining Limited, which was also convicted on two counts, was fined 15,000 penalty units for each offence.

The court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, found Wontumi guilty of assigning or otherwise dealing with mineral rights without the required ministerial approval and purposefully facilitating unlawful mining activities.

The court held that the prosecution had proved the essential elements of the offences beyond reasonable doubt.

In reaching its decision, the court found that Wontumi exercised effective control over Akonta Mining’s operations and held him personally liable for offences committed through the company.

The court also rejected the defence’s argument that activities undertaken by Henry Okum on the company’s concession were solely for the reclamation of degraded land, finding that the evidence established that mining activities had taken place.

Before delivering judgment, the court dismissed a defence application seeking to refer constitutional questions arising from the case to the Supreme Court.

The NPP has not yet disclosed what legal or political steps it intends to take following the conviction, but its statement indicates that further communication will be issued after the emergency meeting.

Nana Prekoh Eric

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