Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), appeared before the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in Accra on Monday and was given bail with two sureties.
Days earlier, on Friday, May 23, a joint National Security and police team attempted to arrest him at his home but was unsuccessful.
The action caused public indignation and led to dozens of NPP supporters demonstrating outside his house.
Chairman Wontumi acknowledged that he was accused of participating in illicit mining (galamsey) in a statement following his release on bail. He flatly denied any wrongdoing, though.
“I was invited by the police and charged with being involved in galamsey,” he said. “I presented my license to them to prove that I do not engage in illegal mining. They also claimed I was working in the forest, but I told them it wasn’t me. If they have any evidence, they should show it to me.”
Wontumi added that the Forestry Commission, Lands Commission, and Minerals Commission had told him the land had been set aside for protection, even though he had previously sought for a license to operate in a forest region.
“I am not aware of anyone working there now,” he continued. In addition to the galamsey accusations, Wontumi responded to allegations of financial irregularities with the Ghana Cocoa Board, calling them “completely not true.”
“If you are constructing a road, the government doesn’t give you money upfront—you use your own money,” he explained. “The Ghana Highways Authority and COCOBOD engineers later assess the road and pay you based on agreed rates. My contract stated I should be paid within 28 days, but it took nearly three years. So COCOBOD cannot claim they don’t owe me.”