Court adjourns Wontumi's Tano Nimiri Forest case after appearing under prison escort

An Accra High Court has adjourned the Tano Nimiri Forest case involving Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to July 31, 2026.

Wontumi was brought before the court by officers of the Ghana Prison Service following his 20-year prison sentence in the Samreboi illegal mining case.

The adjournment followed a request from his lawyer, who had written to the court seeking additional time.

Wontumi directed mining activities in Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve – Court told

The case, which concerns alleged activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve, is Wontumi’s second legal matter to return to court after his conviction in the illegal mining case.

It will be recalled that on June 17, 2026, during proceedings in the case, an investigator told the High Court that his investigations revealed that Chairman Wontumi directed mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.

Chief Inspector Eugene Akpor Glover, the investigator who is testifying as the third prosecution witness, made the claim during cross-examination.

Lawyers for Chairman Wontumi, led by Andy Appiah-Kubi, while subjecting the witness to further scrutiny, suggested that he had not seen Wontumi personally give mining instructions.

Although he admitted that he had not personally witnessed Wontumi giving such instructions, the investigator said his investigations established that Wontumi directed mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve.

Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining, Kwame Antwi, and Owusu Bempah have been charged together with undertaking illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Western Region.

Akonta Mining, as a company, is also facing charges of felling trees in a Forest Reserve without written authority from the competent forest authority and erecting structures in a Forest Reserve without written authority from the competent forest authority, contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Forest Protection Act, 1974 (NRCD 243), as amended by Section 1 of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).

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Chairman Wontumi is personally facing two separate counts of abetting the unauthorised felling of trees in a Forest Reserve, contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Forest Protection Act, 1974 (NRCD 243), as amended by Section 1 of the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624), and Section 20(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

The accused persons have pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail.

MAG/MA

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