Ashanti Regional power‐broker Bernard Antwi Boasiako’s 20‐year jail term has left Ghana’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) “deeply shaken” and its grassroots in its heartland “devastated”, a senior party MP has said.
Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, said the conviction of the Ashanti Regional Chairman – widely known as Chairman Wontumi – had stunned the party, both because of his influence and because of what he described as weak evidence.
“Wontumi is no ordinary person… if anything like this has happened to him, definitely it is not something which is light. We can’t take it lightly at all, and so it’s something which has devastated us,” he told current affairs programme The Point of View on Monday, 20 July.
The Accra High Court last week sentenced Antwi Boasiako to 20 years’ imprisonment, to run concurrently on multiple counts, after finding him guilty of unlawfully assigning mineral rights and facilitating illegal mining activities on the Samreboi concession of Akonta Mining Limited.
The court also imposed a fine of 15,000 penalty units on Akonta Mining Limited on each count.
‘Pillar’ of NPP’s Ashanti base
Mr Baffour Awuah underlined the central role Wontumi has played for the NPP in Ashanti Region, the party’s traditional electoral powerhouse.
Describing him as “a pillar of the party’s strongest region”, the MP said the ruling had reverberated across the NPP’s base there.
He suggested that the emotional impact of the sentence extended far beyond the leadership, affecting rank‐and‐file supporters who credit Wontumi with energising the party and shoring up its vote in recent elections.
According to Mr Baffour Awuah, the punishment has “hit supporters hard”, compounding wider concerns within the party ahead of future polls.
MP questions ‘porous’ evidence
The Manhyia South legislator said the NPP leadership had closely monitored the trial and had not expected a guilty verdict based on the material presented in court.
“We are very surprised because if you look at the evidence that was tendered… we want to appreciate the basis upon which a court can convict on evidence which, in our view, was very porous,” he said.
He added that, in his reading of the proceedings, even the trial judge acknowledged the absence of direct evidence linking Wontumi to the offences.
“We want to see how the judge evaluated the evidence and came to the conclusion that she has come to. If the record of proceedings we have is anything to go by, we think there has been a travesty,” Mr Baffour Awuah said.
The MP stressed that the party was now awaiting the full written judgment to understand the legal reasoning behind the decision, hinting that this would shape the next steps Wontumi’s lawyers and the NPP might take.
Illegal mining at centre of case
The case centres on alleged unlawful allocation of mineral rights and the facilitation of galamsey – illegal small‐scale mining – on the Samreboi concession held by Akonta Mining Limited.
Illegal mining has become one of Ghana’s most contentious political and environmental issues, blamed for widespread destruction of forests and water bodies.
While the detailed findings of the court are yet to be published, the conviction of such a high‐profile regional chairman aligns with growing calls for tougher enforcement of mining laws, even against politically connected figures.
Wider political fallout
The ruling has already sparked intense debate within Ghana’s political class, with some government critics arguing that Wontumi had long benefited from what they term “political insurance”.
Supporters of the judgment say it demonstrates that powerful party figures are not above the law. Allies of Wontumi, including Mr Baffour Awuah, insist the conviction is difficult to reconcile with the evidence as they understand it.
For now, the NPP leadership is grappling with the loss of one of its most influential regional organisers in the run‐up to crucial national elections, as both legal and political battles over the case continue to unfold.
