Ghana’s main opposition party is denouncing a court ruling that sent one of its senior leaders to prison for 20 years with hard labor over illegal mining.
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, known widely as “Chairman Wontumi” and the New Patriotic Party’s chairman for the Ashanti region, was sentenced on Monday in an Accra court. He was also ordered to pay more than $10,000, about £7,450, in fines.
Boasiako, who pleaded not guilty, appeared shocked as the judge delivered the verdict. He is the first senior politician convicted since the government launched its crackdown on illegal mining in 2017.
The court found him guilty of “assigning mineral rights without approval” and “facilitating an unlicensed mining operation” through his company, Akonta Mining. Prosecutors said he allowed two men, Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi, to mine on Akonta’s concession without approval from the minister of lands and natural resources.
The NPP says the case was politically motivated. General secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong told reporters the fight against illegal mining “cannot become credible only when it targets political opponents in respect of whom evidence of wrongdoing does not exist.” He added that lawyers have started the process to appeal the conviction and accused the judge of ignoring evidence that could have cleared Boasiako.
Environmental groups welcomed the ruling. Adib Saani, executive director of the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building, said it “sends a strong signal that accountability is indispensable if Ghana is to protect its forests, rivers and other natural resources.”
Ghana is Africa’s top gold producer, but illegal mining, locally called “galamsey,” has polluted large areas of water and land. Successive governments have tried to stop it, including deploying the military, with limited results.
