Accra, Aug. 19, GNA – The application by Mr Bernard Antwi Boasiako, alias Wontumi, for bail pending appeal has been adjourned to October 15, 2026.
The adjournment was necessitated by the indisposition of the High Court judge scheduled to hear the application.
Mr Gary Nimako Marfo, Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), represented Mr Samuel Atta Akyea, the substantive lawyer for Wontumi
Boasiako, a former Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP and currently serving a prison sentence at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison, filed a motion on notice seeking bail pending an appeal against his conviction.
The Accra High Court was expected to hear the application on Wednesday, August 19, 2026.
On July 20, this year, the High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, convicted Wontumi and sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for facilitating illegal mining activities on a Samreboi concession in the Western Region.
Through his lawyers, Wontumi contended that the trial was, on the face of the record, wrong in law.
His motion argued that the appeal raised genuine and substantial constitutional interpretation questions concerning Article 19(1) of the Constitution and the constitutionality of Sections 14(1), 59 and 99(2) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), which he described as penal provisions.
He further argued that the trial judge had usurped the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in violation of Article 132(2) of the Constitution.
“The appeal challenges the learned trial judge’s attribution of criminal liability to the first applicant (Boasiako), notwithstanding the separate legal personality of the third applicant (Akonta Mining Company Limited),” the motion stated.
Boasiako also contended that he was not a flight risk, describing himself as a responsible and law-abiding person with deep-rooted ties within the jurisdiction.
He said his businesses, family, professional and community ties were all within the jurisdiction and that he had a fixed place of abode in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.
He further argued that granting him bail pending the appeal would enable him to work closely with his lawyers and consult and confer with them in preparation for the appeal.
The Attorney-General opposed the application, arguing that Boasiako was a flight risk.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Joyce Danso
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