Wontumi arrives at CID over Akonta Mining investigations

Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has reported to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Accra.

His appearance on Monday, October 6, 2025, follows a directive from the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, over investigations into alleged illegal mining activities linked to Akonta Mining Limited.

Chairman Wontumi arrived at the CID premises around 9:30 a.m. to honour the invitation after the Attorney General had warned that failure to appear would result in his arrest. The directive came days after Dr. Ayine announced that charges against the NPP regional chairman had been signed and would soon be read to him.

The investigation centres on Akonta Mining Limited, a company allegedly connected to the politician, which has been accused of engaging in illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey. According to the Attorney General, the case had stalled under the previous administration due to missing documents and incomplete dockets, but those records have now been retrieved to advance the process.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr. Wontumi’s lawyer, Andy Appiah-Kubi, confirmed that his client would cooperate fully with the police but described the Attorney General’s warning as unnecessary. “We have been asked to appear at the police CID in Accra, which we are ready for and we will be there at 10 a.m. at the police CID headquarters,” he said. “This announcement by the Attorney General surprises me. I said, we respect the invitation and we will honour it, but I think the warning that followed that announcement was unnecessary. We are not in any way going to disrespect the invitation.”

The latest development forms part of ongoing national efforts to hold individuals and companies accountable for illegal mining activities that have caused extensive environmental damage to Ghana’s water bodies and forest reserves. The CID has not yet released further details on the progress of the investigation.