TNR FILES
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party better known as Chairman Wontumi, is directing his campaign for the party’s National Chairmanship from a prison cell at Nsawam raising fundamental questions about the NPP’s internal governance and the limits of political ambition.
Wontumi was sentenced on 20 July 2026 to 20 years’ imprisonment following his conviction in an illegal mining case. Yet despite his incarceration, his campaign team insists his bid for the party’s top executive position remains firmly on course.
“Our ambition to become the National Chairman of the party is still very much alive,” Dr Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, spokesperson for Wontumi’s campaign, told TV3. “We have no indication otherwise.”
According to Dr Boakye-Danquah, Wontumi gave explicit instructions on the day of his sentencing that the campaign should continue simultaneously working to make Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia president in 2028 and to secure Wontumi’s own elevation to National Chairman.
“His last words to me on 20 July were that we should work hard to bring Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to power and that we should also work hard to make him the National Chairman of the party,” the spokesperson stated.
The campaign’s confidence confronts a formidable legal reality. While the NPP’s national constitution does not explicitly address whether a convicted person can contest internal elections, the party’s USA branch constitution offers instructive provisions that may signal intent.
Article 3(5)(a) of the NPP-USA Constitution disqualifies members convicted of “an offence punishable by death or imprisonment for 10 years or more” from contesting or holding office unless 10 years have passed since completion of the sentence or the member has received a full pardon.
The provision further identifies convictions relating to public elections, defrauding the state, abuse of office, and unlawful acquisition of assets as circumstances that can affect eligibility.
The question, however, is whether these provisions apply to the party’s national structure in Ghana or whether the party’s internal electoral structures must determine Wontumi’s eligibility during the nomination and vetting process.
Dr Boakye-Danquah insists the campaign team is prepared to pick up nomination forms for Wontumi once nominations officially open, and to complete the filing process before the deadline.
“We are very confident as a campaign that we are going to still stand for the National Chairmanship election,” he said, adding that the ultimate decision rests with party delegates.
Wontumi’s determination to contest from prison is unprecedented in Ghanaian political history. The NPP has never had a convicted prisoner seek its highest executive office while serving a sentence let alone a 20-year term for illegal mining, an offence that strikes at the heart of the party’s environmental credentials.
Wontumi’s case exposes deeper tensions within the NPP as it prepares for internal elections. His conviction for illegal mining a crime that has devastated Ghana’s environment and cost the state billions in lost revenue raises questions about the party’s commitment to its own professed values of accountability and the rule of law.
The NPP’s 2024 manifesto pledged to “vigorously enforce mining laws” and “ensure that all persons engaged in illegal mining are prosecuted”. Wontumi’s conviction under that very legal framework now tests whether the party will apply the same standards to its own leadership aspirants.
Wontumi’s supporters argue that the party’s internal rules do not expressly disqualify him from contesting or serving as National Chairman, and that delegates should be free to decide.
Critics counter that allowing a convicted prisoner to lead the party would be a reputational disaster and that the party’s constitution, properly interpreted, clearly contemplates disqualification for serious criminal convictions.
The NPP has not yet opened nominations for its national executive elections. When it does, Wontumi’s campaign team faces an immediate procedural hurdle: whether the party’s vetting committee will accept his nomination given his incarceration and criminal conviction.
The party’s National Executive Committee and its legal team will almost certainly be drawn into the matter. Any decision to disqualify Wontumi is likely to be challenged, setting the stage for a protracted internal legal battle that could consume the party’s attention at a critical moment.
The broader political implications are significant. The NPP is preparing for the 2028 general election, with Dr Mahamudu Bawumia widely expected to lead the party’s ticket. A disruptive leadership contest and the spectacle of a convicted prisoner running for National Chairman could distract from the party’s campaign preparations and undermine its message of good governance.
Wontumi’s prison ambition is more than a colourful political sideshow it is a stress test for the NPP’s institutional integrity. The party that prides itself on being Ghana’s foremost champion of the rule of law must now decide whether that principle applies to its own leadership aspirants.
The NPP’s constitution may not explicitly disqualify a convicted prisoner from contesting internal elections, but the spirit of the law and the party’s own rhetoric on accountability suggests that a 20-year sentence for illegal mining should be an insurmountable barrier to high office.
If the NPP allows Wontumi to contest from Nsawam, it sends a signal that political ambition trumps the rule of law and that the party’s own rules are flexible for the well-connected. If it disqualifies him, it risks alienating his formidable support base in the Ashanti Region.
Either way, the party’s leadership must act decisively. The optics of a man serving 20 years for environmental crimes directing a campaign for national office are damaging enough; the spectacle of protracted internal litigation would be far worse. The NPP’s handling of the Wontumi question will be a defining moment for the party and a measure of its commitment to the principles it claims to uphold.