NPP chairman Wontumi seeks bail as he appeals 20-year jail sentence
Ghana's opposition New Patriotic Party regional chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has asked the High Court to release him on bail while he challenges his conviction over illegal mining activities.
Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of New Patriotic Party (NPP), has applied to the High Court for bail pending the hearing of his appeal against a 20-year prison sentence for illegal mining offences.
The application, filed on 5 August, says Mr Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, is being held at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison while he contests his conviction.
Court documents seen by the BBC show that his lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, is asking the High Court to grant bail under provisions of Ghana's Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act and the Courts Act.
The application has been scheduled to be heard on 19 August before the High Court's Criminal Division 4 in Accra.
The Attorney-General, representing the state, and the Director of the Nsawam Medium Security Prison have both been served with copies of the application.
Mr Boasiako is the first appellant in the case, which also names Akonta Mining Company Limited and Kwame Antwi, who remains at large.
Last week, Criminal Court 4 of the High Court sentenced Mr Boasiako to 20 years' imprisonment after finding him guilty on all six charges brought against him.
Prosecutors said he, together with Akonta Mining Company Limited and Kwame Antwi, unlawfully assigned mineral rights on the company's concession at Samreboi in western Ghana without ministerial approval and facilitated mining activities without the authorisation required under the Minerals and Mining Act.
The High Court will now decide whether Mr Boasiako should be released on bail while his appeal against the conviction is determined.
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