Claims by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the incarceration of its Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Wontumi, is politically motivated, is not true, South Dayi Member of Parliament, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has argued.
Dafeamekpor, also the Majority Chief Whip, says the legal troubles facing Wontumi did not start recently, but during the NPP administration.
He says his own political party had long distanced itself from his alleged activities, where the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry, as well as the Minerals Commission, had all affirmed Wontumi’s illegal activities before the Akufo-Addo administration left power.
Commenting on the sentencing of the NPP National Chairman aspirant on Monday, July 20, 2026, Dafeamekpor denied claims by the NPP that Wontumi’s prosecution was politically motivated, insisting that they overlooked the fact that the investigations into his activities commenced while his own party was in power.
He tells Channel One TV that “the NPP government disowned him and said he was engaged in an illegality before the NDC came to power.”
According to him, the circumstances surrounding the matter is evident that the case was not initiated by this government but had its roots in actions taken under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
Dafeamekpor’s comments come after the High Court found Chairman Wontumi guilty in the case involving alleged illegal mining activities on the concession of Akonta Mining Company Limited at Samraboi in the Western region.
The judgment has generated sharp political reactions, with the NPP insisting it will challenge the ruling through the appellate courts.
Wontumi should’ve gotten maximum 25-year jail term – Ken Ashigbey
