New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has visited the party’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison.
The visit on Wednesday, July 22, comes two days after Wontumi was convicted and sentenced in the Akonta Mining illegal mining case.
According to Akbar Yussif Khomeini, a spokesperson for Dr Bawumia, in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Wednesday, July 22, the visit formed part of the party’s response to the High Court’s judgment, which the NPP believes was unjust.
He said the party considers Wontumi’s conviction to be an act of political targeting and that Dr Bawumia, as the NPP’s leader and presidential candidate, deemed it necessary to personally visit the Ashanti Regional Chairman.
Khomeini said Dr Bawumia had also mobilised the party’s legal team to support lead counsel Samuel Atta Akyea in pursuing an appeal against the conviction.
“The matter involved his party’s Regional Chairman, so it was only appropriate that he organises the machinery of the party, first of all, to publicly respond to the judgment of the High Court and to mobilise the best legal brains in the party to support the lead counsel, Samuel Atta Akyea, to mount an appeal against the conviction,” he said.
He added that Dr Bawumia used the visit to assess Wontumi’s condition, encourage him and assure him that the party would pursue all lawful means to challenge the conviction.
“He took advantage of the opportunity to encourage him to stay strong and to be aware that the whole party is solidly behind him and that the party will do everything lawful to ensure that he gets out of this situation,” Khomeini stated.
According to the spokesperson, Wontumi remained in high spirits during the visit and maintained that he had committed no offence.
Khomeini said the Ashanti Regional Chairman insisted he had never engaged in illegal mining and believes he will eventually be cleared by the courts.
“He maintained that he’s never engaged in galamsey… and he’s confident that at the end of the day, he would be exonerated,” he said.
Khomeini also disclosed that Wontumi’s legal team had already prepared a notice of appeal containing about 20 grounds.
He said lead counsel Samuel Atta Akyea, who was expected back in Ghana on Wednesday night, would file the appeal in the coming days.
Wontumi was convicted by the High Court in Accra on Monday, July 20, and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of two counts, with the sentences to run concurrently.
The court also imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units on each count, while Akonta Mining Limited was fined 15,000 penalty units after it was convicted on two counts in the same case.
Before delivering its judgment, the court dismissed an application by the defence seeking to refer constitutional issues raised in the case to the Supreme Court for interpretation.
Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay ruled that the application lacked merit and proceeded to deliver judgment.
Following the conviction, Samuel Atta Akyea criticised the ruling, arguing that the constitutional issues should have been referred to the Supreme Court and confirming that the defence would appeal the decision.
