Political aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Kofi Tonto, has accused President John Dramani Mahama of using the conviction of Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman, Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, as a scapegoat in the government’s fight against illegal mining.
According to him, the President’s anti-galamsey campaign is selective, alleging that some members of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) who have been accused of engaging in illegal mining have not been investigated.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Kofi Tonto described President Mahama as “vindictive and pretentious,” insisting that the conviction of Chairman Wontumi was politically motivated.
“They want to use some people as scapegoats to prove that they are working on galamsey and ORAL. In all that he is doing, his party people are being signed off. Some of his party people who have been accused of galamsey are not even being investigated, but Wontumi, who has not even been directly proved to be involved in galamsey, has been convicted,” he said.
Mr. Tonto argued that Chairman Wontumi’s only involvement was granting access to land and maintained there was no direct evidence linking him to illegal mining activities.
“Wontumi’s only offence was giving out his land to someone. The one who was even doing the galamsey is being protected. There is no published evidence that Wontumi was a kingpin in galamsey,” he stated.
He further contended that the court’s decision was based largely on circumstantial evidence rather than explicit proof that the NPP chairman authorised or participated in illegal mining.
“The court relied on circumstantial evidence. Wontumi cannot be described as a kingpin because there was no explicit evidence that he gave out the land for galamsey. We should be careful,” he added.
His comments come after the Accra High Court sentenced Chairman Wontumi to 20 years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty in the illegal mining case involving Akonta Mining Company Limited’s concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.
The court convicted Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining Company Limited and another accused person, Kwame Antwi, over unlawful mining activities on the company’s concession.
In addition to the custodial sentence, the court imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢120,000, with a default sentence of three years’ imprisonment if the fine is not paid. The prison sentence and the default term attached to the fine are to run concurrently.
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