The High Court presided by HL Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay today, Monday, the 20th day of July, 2026 has sentenced Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako alias, Chairman Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining to 20 years in hard labour with a fine of GHC600,000.

The Court in the delivery of its judgment which was unsuccessfully arrested by lawyers for the accused persons was rendered to a packed courtroom in the presence of heavy police security within and outside the corridors of the Criminal Court 4 Courtroom.

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The Counts

The Counts per the charge sheet, a copy of which may be read/downloaded below, as filed on the 6th day of October, 2025 were 6. Per the judgment of the Court, prosecution could successfully prove 4 out of the 6. Per the judgment of the Court which was delivered for over 2hours counts 1, 3, 4 and 6 were successfully proved.

Per the delivery of the Court, the following counts were proved and the 1st and 2nd accused person found guilty:

Count 1- Assignment of Mineral Rights without ministerial approval

Count 4- Purposely facilitating the contravention of the act- Guilty

Count 3- 3rd Accused- Assignment of Mineral Rights without ministerial approval-Guilty

Count 6-A3-Purposely facilitating the contravention of the Act (illegal mining activity).-Guilty

Punishment

The Court faced with a lower limit of 15 years and upper limit of 25 years per the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act 2019, (Act 995) imposed 20 years and penalties of 10,000 - 15,000 per count. The Punishment of the Court were as follows:

Count 1 - 20 years IHL(in hard labour) and fine of 10,000 penalty units in default 3 years IHL.

Count 4 - 20 years IHL(in hard labour) and fine of 10,000 penalty units in default 3 years IHL.

Count 3 - A fine of 15, 000 penalty units

Count 6 - A fine of 15, 000 penalty units

READ/DOWNLOAD FULL CHARGESHEET BELOW: