NPP Chairman Wontumi, two others face charges over illegal mining activities

Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also known as Chairman Wontumi, has been charged alongside two others for their alleged involvement in illegal mining activities by Akonta Mining Limited.

The accused parties are facing six counts, including unauthorized assignment of a mining concession and facilitating unlicensed mining operations.

Kwame Antwi, currently at large and co-owner/director of Akonta Mining, and Akonta Mining Limited are the other defendants. The charges stem from the company’s activities in Samreboi, located in the Western Region.

According to the facts as presented in the charge sheet, a state security operation on April 26, 2025, resulted in the arrest of Michael Ayisi Gyedu and 28 others who were engaged in mining activities on the Akonta Mining concession.

During the interrogation, Mr. Gyedu is said to have claimed that he was authorized by Henry Okum to supervise mining activities on the land, which Okum claimed was under his control.

Mr. Gyedu further stated that while he and his team conducted reclamation on a previously mined portion of the land, they were actively mining on an unmined section of the concession.

The state alleges that Henry Okum, during interrogation, admitted to seeking and receiving permission from Chairman Wontumi to conduct mining operations within the Samreboi concession—believing it belonged to the Chairman.

Investigators claim that Chairman Wontumi granted this permission without first obtaining the legally required approval from the minister responsible for mining, as mandated by law.

 

During the operation, authorities retrieved several items from the concession, including:

Eight (8) pump-action guns

One (1) single-barreled gun

Five (5) metal pieces suspected to be gold, concealed in a sachet

Four (4) machetes

Several water-pumping machines

310 AAA/BB cartridges

One (1) grease gun

Four (4) motorcycles

Two (2) vehicles

Cash totaling GHS 157,000

Twenty-five (25) serviceable excavators

Four (4) non-serviceable excavators

The prosecution has indicated that at the close of the trial, it will petition the court to issue a forfeiture order for all valuable items recovered from the site.