Chairman Wontumi’s bail conditions changed, must report to court registrar

Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party and owner of Akonta Mining Company Limited, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, who is in court with his company for allegedly authorizing two people to take on mining operations on his concession without getting any approval from the minister, has been asked to report to the High Court Registrar. 

Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, who is the trial judge, varied the bail conditions, which originally instructed the accused to make sure he  report in connection with the case  investigator on the first and third Monday of every month. 

As per  judge Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, the case investigator did not follow the orders of the court, which obligated him to keep a record file of returns concerning Chairman Womtumi remaining in the country.

Due to that, the court has ordered the Registrar of the Court to carry out all the responsibilities the investigator was instructed to perform under the bail condition of Chairman Wontumi.

At the same time, the defense submitted a motion requesting for additional information from the prosecution to adequately prepare their defense. They argued that some important documents were not provided, which are needed to build their case

Dr Justice Srem-Sai, the Deputy Attorney-General, opposed the motion, by stating that the defence was not able to demonstrate how the requested materials helped prove innocence and argued that the prosecution were not able to provide the documents asked for in its possession. 

After going through the application and supporting affidavits, the court rejected the request of the defence for additional information,by  confirming that the prosecution was not able to obtain the requested documents.

The judge ruled that “There is no disclosure of justification for these documents. Secondly, the prosecution has indicated that they do not have these documents and are unable to procure same. Accordingly, the application is dismissed.”

Chairman Wontumi and his company are charged with two counts of assignment mineral rights without approval and two counts for  intentionally helping an unlicensed  mining operation at Samreboi in the Western Region.

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