Those who wanted tougher galamsey laws now complaining about Wontumi's 20-year sentence — Kwesi Pratt Jr.
Veteran journalist and Editor of The Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr., has stated that the 20-year prison sentence handed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, falls within the sentencing limits approved by Parliament.
Chairman Wontumi, Akonta Mining Company Limited and the second accused, Kwame Antwi, who remains at large, were convicted on six counts relating to the unlawful assignment of mineral rights and purposely facilitating unlicensed mining operations within Akonta Mining Company's concession at Samreboi in the Western Region.
The prosecution said Wontumi, as owner and controlling director of Akonta Mining, allowed Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to undertake mining activities within the company's concession in 2024 without obtaining the mandatory written approval of the Minister responsible for mining, contrary to the Minerals and Mining Act.
An Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie Tay, on Monday, July 20, sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment and imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units, with an additional three-year custodial sentence in default of payment.
Speaking on Metro TV's Good Morning Ghana programme on Wednesday, July 22, Mr. Pratt traced the history of amendments to Ghana's mining laws, saying the then NPP Majority in Parliament called for more harsher penalties for offences related to illegal mining, making the current sentence legally justified.
"Those who said that even 25 years was too lenient and that we should shoot and kill today are saying that the 20-year sentence is too harsh. I cannot believe it. The judge could have imposed a 25-year sentence if, in her view, the case merited it. The least sentence she could have imposed is 15 years. That is what the law binds her to do," he said.
He further argued that the trial judge exercised discretion by ordering the custodial sentences on the two counts to run concurrently, a decision he believes ultimately reduced the time Wontumi is likely to spend behind bars.
The veteran journalist stressed that presidential pardons and remission under Ghana's prison system could further shorten the actual period of incarceration.
"The judge, in her wisdom, and I'm sure with some compassion, decided that the sentences should run concurrently... Prison is not a place we would wish for anybody. Ghanaian prisons are terrible places, so whether he stays there for six months, one year or 10 years, it is a harrowing experience to be in prison," he stated.