Claim: A TikTok video claimed that Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s Ashanti regional chairman, has been granted bail, with supporters celebrating his release.
Verdict: False! There is no credible evidence that Chairman Wontumi has been granted bail. The video attached to the claim is old footage showing Ghanaians who were evacuated from South Africa amid rising xenophobic attacks. It has no connection to his legal case.
Accra, Aug 7 (DUBAWA/GNA) – An Accra High Court sentenced Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), the Ashanti regional chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), to 20 years’ imprisonment with hard labour on Jul. 20, 2026. The court convicted him of offences linked to illegal mining activities by his company, Akonta Mining Limited, and their concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.
Among his alleged offences, the court held that he had unlawfully assigned mineral rights without the Minister responsible for Lands and Natural Resources’ approval. He was also alleged to have deliberately facilitated unlicensed mining operations in violation of the Minerals and Mining Act. Although the court imposed two separate 20-year custodial sentences, they are to run concurrently, meaning he is to serve a total of 20 years.
He and Akonta Mining were also fined, while another accused person in the case, Kwame Antwi, remains at large. The NPP has since announced plans to appeal the conviction, describing the judgment as flawed.
Following his sentence, numerous claims and rumours have circulated on social media regarding his legal situation.
On July 29, 2026, a TikTok account, Ohiani Blogger, posted a video (archived here) carrying the caption, “Breaking news, Chairman Wontumi has been granted bail today, as Ghanaians celebrate. Congratulations.”
As of Aug. 2, 2026, the post had accumulated more than 515,000 views, over 24,000 likes, and 787 comments. The post also gained 1,588 bookmarks and 686 shares within the period.
The account, with over 37,000 followers, uploaded the same video on July 31, 2026, with a different caption. It reads, “Congratulations, Chairman Wontumi has been successfully granted $100 million dollars bail today. As NPP members celebrate.”
As of Aug. 2, 2026, the post had generated over 435,000 views, 19,000 likes, 249 comments, 1,608 saves, and 684 shares.
The same account later uploaded the footage again, this time claiming that Chairman Wontumi had been granted a “$15 million” bail.
The conflicting figures across the different posts immediately sparked mixed reactions, raising questions about the claim’s authenticity.
Some users claimed the footage was false.
One user, @Nivaro-AJ, commented, “It’s never true; this is a video when Ghanaians were back from South Africa.”
Another user, @Obaatan TV Official, wrote, “Is WONTUMI aware that he’s been granted bail on TikTok here??,” mocking the post.
Others, however, believed the claim.
Some users, including @Peter_Koomson, @abdulrazakabuba32, and @Mac_Zoh_Zah, reacted politically, threatening to vote against the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2028 general election if the news of Wontumi’s release proves true.
DUBAWA decided to verify the claim because of its potential to mislead the public and inflame political tensions surrounding one of Ghana’s most closely watched legal cases.
Verification
Despite using advanced keyword searches, DUBAWA found no credible news outlets or official statements indicating that Chairman Wontumi had been granted bail.
The contradictory bail amounts posted on different days for the same video were one of the several inconsistencies we observed. Such contradictions undermine the credibility of the claim.
During a manual analysis of the video, DUBAWA overheard a woman appearing in the footage shouting, “Yes, we have returned! Our President, God will bless you, John Mahama! Mahama! You’ve been so so good to us!”
The statement “we have returned” immediately suggests that the video does not depict a celebration of Chairman Wontumi’s purported release.
Also, DUBAWA observed that many individuals in the footage were carrying travel luggage and wearing heavy sweaters and jackets, typically associated with international travel from colder climates.
There are no visible NPP party colours, campaign materials, or banners indicating that the gathering was made up of NPP supporters or related to Chairman Wontumi.
Using reverse image search and keyword searches, DUBAWA traced the footage (archived here) to an earlier event involving the evacuation of Ghanaians amid rising xenophobic attacks in South Africa. The repatriation efforts were hailed by returnees who expressed gratitude to former President John Mahama.
The footage, originally posted on May 27, 2026, by Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s foreign affairs minister, on his Facebook page, predates the TikTok claim and is unrelated to Chairman Wontumi’s legal proceedings.
The video was taken out of context and falsely presented as supporters celebrating his release on bail.
Conclusion
The claim that Chairman Wontumi has been granted bail is false. DUBAWA found no official confirmation that he has been granted bail. The accompanying video is old footage of Ghanaians returning from South Africa. It was recycled to create a false impression that NPP supporters were celebrating his release.
GNA/DUBAWA
This report was produced under the 2026 Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, co-hosted by DUBAWA and the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre (DAIDAC), with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).