The First Prosecution Witness (PW1) in the case against the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, and two others, has told the High Court that the concession at Samreboi belonged to the accused.
The witness, Michael Gyedu Ayisi, an artisanal miner, said it is a known fact that the lands there belonged to him, to the extent that “even a child knows” it’s a fact.
Chairman Wontumi is facing charges, including allegedly assigning mineral rights without approval.
He has been charged together with Kwame Antwi, a Director of Akonta Mining (currently at large), and Akonta Mining, the company itself.
On Monday, January 12, Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai led the witness to have his witness statement adopted as his evidence-in-chief, in which he stated, among other things, that he lived in a building owned by Wontumi.
Under cross-examination from lawyers of Chairman Wontumi, led by Andy Appiah Kubi, the witness said though it was only on television that he knows Chairman Wontumi, everyone knows in Samraboi that he owned the concession there.
Chairman Wontumi and the two others are facing a combined six charges, with each facing two counts.
The charges comprise three counts each of assignment of mineral rights without approval and purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation.
While explaining what he meant by being an artisanal miners, he said, “We use small machines and hands to extract minerals from the ground.”
Asked what training he went through to obtain these minerals, he said, “I did not go through formal training, but I got on-the-job experience.”
The witness told the Court that, “I was at home when my boss, Henry Okun, called me that Mr. Wontumi has given his land, which is at Samraboi, to him, that we should cover a pit on the land, grow coconut on it, and also mine.”
He said it was not a single pit to cover, but rather, “there were many pits, and we were covering them as we proceeded.”
He said the task given him by his boss, he executed with people.
When it was suggested to him that he was the head of all the people working on the site, he said, “I can say so because we were all doing the work.”
He maintained that, “It was Okun who engaged me, so he is the person I know.”
The witness, who said he does not have any certificate in artisanal mining, also said his educational level is at Senior Secondary School level. He said he does not have any formal education in mining.
It was the case of the witness that his boss, Henry Okun, said he took the concession from Chairman Wontumi, despite acknowledging that, “I have not seen any such document. He said it by word of mouth.”
When it was put to him that every concession is governed by a geodetical boundary conducted by a certified surveyor, the witness said, “Generally, I know that every land has a boundary, so if you are saying that concessions have boundaries, I will not doubt it.”
The witness said, “I have worked with Mr. Henry Okun in different areas,” but has not seen a copy of a document about any concession.
He also said he does not know the boundaries of the Samraboi concession in question and maintained that, “it was my boss, Mr. Okun, who told me and took me to the site.”
The witness told the Court that, “I do not know him (Chairman Wontumi) personally, but I’ve seen him on television, and I also know that he is the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP.”
But he said, “I have not had any physical interaction or engagement with him.”
When Mr. Appiah-Kubi suggested to him that Chairman Wontumi has never set foot on the Samraboi concession to his knowledge, he maintained his earlier position, “I have already told the court that I do not know Chairman Wontumi personally. I have only seen him on television.”
It was the case of counsel that the witness had no personal knowledge of the facts but was relying on what others have told him. But the witness said, “What I know about the case is what I have said.” He also told the Court that he is not privy to any deed of assignment between the accused and Mr. Henry Okun.
When it was put to him that he did not know who the said concession belonged to, the witness said the ownership of the lands is a known secret.
“If you go to Samreboi, everybody knows that the land belongs to Chairman Wontumi, even a child knows that,” the witness said.
The sitting continues on Tuesday, January 2026.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
