"Who has Chairman Wontumi killed?" – NPP supporters express outrage over 20-year prison sentence

Some supporters of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have expressed anger and disbelief following the sentencing of the party's Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, to 20 years' imprisonment with hard labour over the Samreboi illegal mining case.

In videos and reactions circulating on social media, several aggrieved supporters questioned the severity of the punishment, with one supporter asking, "Who has Chairman Wontumi killed and you are jailing him for 20 years?" Others argued that the sentence was excessive and unfair, insisting that it did not reflect the nature of the offences for which he was convicted.

The reactions come after an Accra High Court found Chairman Wontumi guilty on multiple illegal mining-related charges connected to mining activities on the Samreboi concession in the Western Region. The court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, imposed a 20-year custodial sentence and also fined him 10,000 penalty units (GH¢120,000), with the prison sentence and any default term to run concurrently.

The court stated that the sentence falls within the legal range prescribed under Ghana's mining laws.