Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the influential Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), is scheduled to appear before the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service on Monday, amid an ongoing probe into illegal mining allegations linked to a company associated with him.
Mr. Boasiako—widely known in Ghanaian political circles as “Chairman Wontumi”—faces scrutiny over the activities of Akonta Mining Ltd., a firm allegedly involved in unauthorized mining operations. The investigation gained fresh momentum after Ghana’s Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, announced on Friday that formal charges had been signed and warned that Mr. Boasiako would face arrest if he failed to report to authorities.
Dr. Ayine also alleged that critical documents related to the case had been hidden during the previous administration, delaying progress on the matter.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr. Boasiako’s attorney, Andy Appiah Kubi, confirmed that his client intends to cooperate fully, and will present himself at CID headquarters in Accra at 10 a.m. local time.
“We respect the invitation and will honor it,” Mr. Appiah Kubi said in an interview with local broadcaster Citi News. “However, the Attorney General’s public warning was unnecessary. My client has never defied any directive from law enforcement.”
The case comes as President John Mahama’s administration faces growing pressure to crack down on galamsey, the local term for illegal small-scale mining, which has been blamed for widespread environmental degradation, particularly in forest and riverine regions.
Chairman Wontumi is a key figure within the party’s grassroots machinery, and the outcome of the investigation could carry significant political weight ahead of national elections next year.
