Deputy Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mohammed Adams Sukparu, has urged critics to allow the legal process to take its course in the case involving New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, insisting that the fight against illegal mining must not be politicised.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, July 22, Sukparu said the enforcement of Ghana’s laws should be applied equally to all citizens, regardless of their political affiliation or social status.
According to him, attempts to frame the prosecution of individuals accused of illegal mining as political persecution undermine the country’s justice system and efforts to tackle galamsey.
“Our justice system can only work when politicians take their hands off. The law must work regardless of whoever is involved. We should allow the law to take its course,” he said.
Sukparu argued that many ordinary Ghanaians accused of illegal mining offences have faced prosecution without attracting public sympathy, questioning why political figures should be treated differently.
“If it was a market woman that was sentenced, I don’t think you would be seeing this conversation. Several other people are facing similar cases, but nobody is speaking for them,” he stated.
The Deputy Minister further stressed that illegal mining poses a national threat and should not be viewed through a partisan lens, noting that its consequences affect every Ghanaian through the destruction of water bodies and the environment.
He therefore called on all stakeholders to support efforts to combat the menace instead of defending individuals facing prosecution.
“We all drink water. We all travel. This is something we must approach collectively. We should not do politics with this,” he said.
His comments come after the Minority Caucus in Parliament described Chairman Wontumi as a “political prisoner” and announced plans to challenge both his conviction and sentence through legal and political means.
The Minority contends that Wontumi’s right to a fair trial was violated after judgment was delivered in the absence of his lead counsel and the trial court declined to refer constitutional issues raised in the case to the Supreme Court.
Chairman Wontumi was sentenced by the High Court in Accra to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of two counts in the Akonta Mining illegal mining case, with the sentences to run concurrently.
He was also fined 10,000 penalty units on each count, while Akonta Mining Limited was fined 15,000 penalty units on each of the two counts on which it was convicted.
