Targeting Wontumi While Ignoring NDC Galamsey Kingpins Is Unfair and Selective Justice – NPP Ireland Branch Chairman

The Chairman of the Ireland branch of the New Patriotic Party, Alf Marshall Agyapong, has described the conviction and jailing of Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, as political persecution.

Speaking on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, Mr. Agyapong said while he does not condone any activity that destroys forest reserves and pollutes water bodies, the fight against illegal mining must be fair and not selective.

According to him, the incarceration of Wontumi amounts to selective justice.

"I support fair justice against anyone who breaks the law. But when authorities aggressively go after political opponents for suspected wrongdoing while ignoring NDC members doing the same thing, that is selective justice," he told host Kwabena Agyapong.

Mr. Agyapong alleged that several leading members of the governing National Democratic Congress are deeply involved in galamsey as kingpins but are walking free because their party is in power.

He cited President John Dramani Mahama's own admission that some of his appointees and government officials are involved in illegal mining, yet no action has been taken against them.

He argued that if the fight against galamsey is to succeed, it must be non-partisan and not used as a tool to settle political scores.

Chairman Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining Limited, were on Monday, July 20, 2026, convicted by an Accra High Court and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

Justice Kocuvie-Tay found them guilty under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703 as amended by Act 995) for assigning mineral rights without ministerial approval and facilitating illegal mining. The court also pierced the corporate veil of Akonta Mining, ruling that the company had no functional board and was under Wontumi's sole control.

In addition to the custodial sentence, the court fined Wontumi 10,000 penalty units per count and Akonta Mining 15,000 penalty units per count, dismissing defence arguments that Wontumi was a first-time offender and was only reclaiming land.

But Mr. Agyapong insisted Wontumi is not the only person engaged in the act.

"Any activity that destroys our environment must be condemned totally. Our forebears preserved these resources for us and we must do same. Our water bodies are polluted and it is painful that despite the laws, these things continue," he said.