Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, has told the High Court in Accra that he did not have any formal written contract agreement with the miner he entered into a contract with to reclaim his Samreboi Concession, describing it as “an oversight.”
He said his agreement with Henry Okum, a Prosecution Witness in the ongoing trial, was rather oral and informal one which was meant to reclaim the already mined concession of Akonta Mining.
He added that he did not know it was used for mining but “Had I known that Mr. Okum was conducting mining operations on the concession in excess of and contrary to the reclamation mandate I had given him, I would have immediately revoked his permission and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities.”
He told the Court: “I did not, at any time, grant Mr. Okum permission to conduct, undertake, or carry out any mining operations or to extract any minerals from A3’s concession.”
“The permission I granted was limited solely to reclamation activities on the mined-out portions of the land.”
“I did not enter into any written contract with Mr. Okum in respect of the reclamation arrangement. I acknowledge that the absence of a written agreement was an oversight on my part.”
“However, the absence of a written contract does not, in law or in fact, transform a reclamation arrangement into a mining operation or an assignment of mineral rights.”
“At no point did I agree with Mr. Okum that he could mine on the unmined portions of A3’s concession.”
“I did not authorise, permit, sanction, or in any manner approve any mining activities by Mr. Okum or any person acting under his direction on A3’s concession.”
“The allegation that I agreed to allow Mr. Okum to mine on the unmined portions of the concession is false and is denied in its entirety.”
Chairman Wontumi, (A1), and Akonta Mining (A3), have each pleaded not guilty separately to the charge of Assignment of mineral rights without approval and Purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation.
The second accused, Kwame Antwi, a director of Akonta Mining is currently in the run.
Counts 1 and 3 of the Prosecution’s charge against Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining, are Assignment of Mineral Rights Without Approval, contrary to Section 14(1) and Section 99(2)(b) of Act 703 as amended.
Per Section 14(1) of Act 703, a mineral right shall not, in whole or in part, be transferred, assigned, mortgaged, or otherwise encumbered or dealt with in any manner without the prior written approval of the Minister.
However, in his Witness Statement adopted by the High Court on Thursday, May 21, 2026, Chairman Wontumi said, “The permission I granted to Mr. Okum was not an assignment of A3’s mineral rights.”
He added that, “It was a limited, informal, and oral permission for Mr. Okum to undertake land reclamation activities on the mined-out portions of A3’s concession.”
He also said he “did not transfer, assign, or in any manner encumber A3’s mineral rights to Mr. Okum. Mr. Okum did not acquire any legal right to exploit the mineral resources in A3’s concession by virtue of the permission I granted him.”
He said the permission was personal, limited in scope, and did not confer any mineral rights on Mr. Okum.
No Written Agreement
In his evidence-in-chief adopted by the Court presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay after being led by his lawyers, he said he is one of the two shareholders and one of the two directors of AKONTA MINING COMPANY LIMITED, the 3rd Accused Person.
He said Akonta Mining (A3) was duly incorporated under the laws of Ghana on November 5, 2010, with mining and exploration as its principal objects and business activities.
He said, “The Company’s registered principal place of business is Tarkwa in the Western Region, though its active mining operations are conducted in the Samreboi area, also in the Western Region.”
A3 is the holder of a valid and subsisting Mining Lease, tendered in evidence in these proceedings as Exhibit G, issued on 23rd July 2021 for a term of ten (10) years.
The mining concession covered by Exhibit G is located in the Samreboi area of the Western Region.
‘I’m Not Guilty, Free Me’
He said A3 (Akonta Mining) has at all material times “conducted its mining operations in strict compliance with the terms and conditions of Exhibit G and the applicable provisions of Act 703 as amended.”
“I categorically, unequivocally, and emphatically deny each and every one of the six (6) counts of offences charged against me as the 1st Accused Person and against A3 as the 3rd Accused Person,” he said.
“I am not guilty of any of the offences charged, and I call upon this Honourable Court to acquit and discharge both myself and A3 upon the conclusion of the defence case,” he added.
He specifically also denied that, “in my capacity as the owner and controlling director of A3, I did, without first obtaining the prior written approval of the Minister responsible for Mines, permit HENRY OKUM and MICHAEL GYEDU AYISI to undertake a mining operation within A3’s mining concession, as alleged in Counts One and Three.”
“I further deny that I did purposely facilitate HENRY OKUM and MICHAEL GYEDU AYISI to, without a licence granted by the Minister, undertake a mining operation within A3’s mining concession, as alleged in Counts Four and Six.”
“Sometime in October 2024, one HENRY OKUM approached me and expressed his desire to undertake land reclamation works on portions of A3’s mining concession at Samreboi that had previously been mined and were in a degraded state.”
“Mr. Okum represented to me that he was experienced in land reclamation and that he wished to plant coconut seedlings on the mined-out portions of the concession to restore the land,” he said in his Witness Statement adopted by the Court as his evidence-in-chief.
“I wish to state clearly and unambiguously that the permission I granted to Mr. Henry Okum was strictly and exclusively for the purpose of land reclamation – specifically, the planting of coconut seedlings on the already-mined and degraded portions of A3’s concession.”
Reclamation, Not Mining
He told the Court that, “I did not, at any time, grant Mr. Okum permission to conduct, undertake, or carry out any mining operations or to extract any minerals from A3’s concession.”
“The permission I granted was limited solely to reclamation activities on the mined-out portions of the land.”
“I did not enter into any written contract with Mr. Okum in respect of the reclamation arrangement. I acknowledge that the absence of a written agreement was an oversight on my part.”
“However, the absence of a written contract does not, in law or in fact, transform a reclamation arrangement into a mining operation or an assignment of mineral rights.”
“At no point did I agree with Mr. Okum that he could mine on the unmined portions of A3’s concession.”
“I did not authorise, permit, sanction, or in any manner approve any mining activities by Mr. Okum or any person acting under his direction on A3’s concession.”
“The allegation that I agreed to allow Mr. Okum to mine on the unmined portions of the concession is false and is denied in its entirety.”
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