…as July 3 Verdict Looms
By Prince Ahenkorah
With just eighteen days until the Accra High Court delivers judgment in his illegal mining trial, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako the Ashanti regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) known to millions as Chairman Wontumi has parachuted in former minister Samuel Atta Akyea as his new lead counsel.
The eleventh-hour manoeuvre, executed on Monday, follows the messy exit of his previous lawyer Andy Appiah-Kubi, whose attempt to quit via a formal motion was tossed out by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay.
The court’s ruling was a procedural brushback: in criminal matters, a lawyer needs no judicial permission to withdraw. The relationship between counsel and client is private, the judge held, and the motion was “alien to criminal procedure”.
The Deputy Attorney-General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, had argued successfully that the application improperly invited the court to exercise a discretion it did not possess. Appiah-Kubi will now simply file a notice.
Wontumi’s public statement, issued through his new handlers at Messrs Zoe and Akyea, insisted the move was merely an exercise of his constitutional right to choose his own defence. “My decision should not be construed as a reflection on their competence or dedication,” he said of his former team.
But sources close to the case tell The New Republic that Atta Akyea a former Abuakwa South MP and Works & Housing Minister under the Akufo-Addo administration has been briefed to prepare an aggressive post-judgment strategy.
His mandate reportedly includes filing applications to “disturb” the 3 July ruling at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, should things go against the NPP strongman.
The stakes could not be higher. Wontumi is not just fighting jail time; he is eyeing the NPP’s national chairmanship.
The party’s constitution bars convicted felons from holding office. A guilty verdict on either of the two counts assignment of mineral rights without approval and facilitating an unlicensed mining operation would effectively kill that ambition. As one analyst put it, “The party’s Ashinian crown jewel cannot be elected from a prison cell”.
Prosecutors allege that Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining, permitted artisanal miners Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to operate on their Samreboi concession without ministerial approval.
The prosecution’s case has been built on a verbal arrangement between Wontumi and Okum, though Okum himself conceded under cross-examination that there was no written agreement or deed of assignment.
The defence has consistently argued that under the Minerals and Mining Act, a leaseholder is permitted to engage service providers for land reclamation without transferring mineral rights.
Wontumi’s defence team closed its case on 3 June after calling a fifth witness, an assembly member who testified that illegal mining on the concession was carried out by unknown third parties, not on the accused’s instructions.
The court has granted parties until 24 June to file final written addresses, with judgment fixed for 3 July. Atta Akyea, known for his meticulous and combative style, will have barely a week to review the trial record and file submissions. The real action, however, is expected to begin after the verdict. A conviction will trigger an immediate appeal and Wontumi’s political machine is already gearing up for a parallel fight.
In the meantime, the NPP’s Ashanti region, traditionally the party’s electoral bank, watches nervously. Wontumi remains a formidable grassroots mobiliser. But as the 3 July judgment approaches, the kingmaker finds himself in unfamiliar territory: waiting, like any other accused person, for a judge to decide his fate.