The General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Justin Kodua Frimpong has said that the party’s legal team has commenced processes to appeal an Accra High Court’s decision to sentence its Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Bosiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, to twenty years imprisonment.
He said this at a press conference in Accra on July 20 after Chairman Wontumi was jailed for 20 years over illegal mining offences.
“The New Patriotic Party stands firmly behind Chairman Wontumi. Our legal team has already commenced the necessary steps to challenge the judgment through the appellate process,” Mr Frimpong said.
“We consider the decision of the court as amounting to political imprisonment. Indeed, Chairman Wontumi is a political prisoner,” Mr Frimpong stressed.
Below is the full speech:
Ladies and gentlemen, we consider the decision of the court as amounting to political imprisonment. Indeed, Chairman Wontumi is a political prisoner.
We address you today with profound disappointment, but also with an unwavering commitment to the rule of law, constitutional democracy, and the pursuit of justice.
While we respect the authority of our courts, respect for judiciary does not require silence in the face of a judgment that so fundamentally flawed. Our constitution guarantees every citizen the right to disagree with judicial decisions and seek to do so through the appellate process.
That is precisely what we intend to do as a political party. Ladies and gentlemen, it is our considered view that Chairman Wontumi has been convicted in circumstances where there was no evidence at all to support a conviction in respect of the offence for which he had been convicted.
It was never disputed that Chairman Wontumi rightly acquired his mineral concession. That fact was established by the court. The central question was whether that concession had been assigned or transferred in violation of the law.
It is our respected view that no evidence was adduced before the court establishing any such assignment or transfer of mineral rights by Chairman Wontumi. The prosecution could not produce any evidence to show that Wontumi had assigned his mineral rights.
Instead, the conviction rested on assumptions and inferences which, in our view, could not amount to prove beyond reasonable doubt. That is why we firmly believe that his conviction is a travesty of justice and has to be immediately appealed.
Further than this, equally disturbing is the broader context within which this prosecution has taken place. A troubling pattern is emerging in our country, a pattern where the government appears eager to shield its own, while relentlessly pursuing its perceived political opponents who have done no wrong.
Today, the Mahama-led NDC government will seek to celebrate this conviction as evidence of his commitment to fight against the galamsey menace.
We reject that narrative entirely. And I repeat, the new patriotic party rejects that narrative entirely. They think that the conviction of Chairman Wontumi will be the trophy to appease the Ghanaian people for their failings.
This is no trophy. The Ghanaian people cannot fail to notice that, while the political opponents who have done no wrong are being aggressively persecuted, questions remain unanswered regarding individuals associated with the party in government who themselves have been publicly linked to illegal mining activities.
Indeed, the President himself has acknowledged that persons in his administration are involved in galamsey. What action has been done to those individuals?
Who are those members the President himself said are engaged in galamsey? What has become of the petition submitted to the Economic and Organized Crime Office seeking an investigation into allegations concerning Mr. Yamin, the NDC National Organizer and Abanga Yakubu, Vice-Chairman of the NDC?
We are asking these questions. Mr. President, what has become of those investigations? What has happened to Honorable Mohammed Yakubu, NDC MP for Ahafo Ano South and Ahafo Ano South East and his DCE after he alleged that he was heavily involved in galamsey in their traditional area?
What happened to the NDC MP for Aowin, Honorable Oscar Ofori Larbi, who was accused by the Chief and the people of Aowin as well as Ghana’s Coalition Against Galamsey for engaging in galamsey? Why has the nation not witnessed the same level of urgency and determination in those matters?
Justice cannot be selective. And I repeat, justice cannot be selective. The fight against illegal mining cannot become credible only when the toughest political opponents in respect of whom evidence of wrongdoing does not exist, while overlooking allegations involving others, especially from the President’s own party.
Ladies and gentlemen, we also wish to state that at a time when our nation is grappling with growing security threats, the devastating impact of illegal mining on our local farmers and farming communities and the areas owned by farmers, the government’s inadequate response to recent flooding across the country, and the increasing levels of terrorism within the sub-region, Ghana expects leadership that responds with urgency, competence, and an unwavering commitment to protecting lives, livelihoods, and national security.
The Government is attempting to divert public attention from those pressing national concerns through selective prosecutions designed to create appearance of success.
Finally, let me assure all members of the New Patriotic Party and the good people of Ghana that Chairman Wontumi is not alone.
There is no justification for the judgement since the judge obviously ignored clear evidence exonerating Wontumi.
The New Patriotic Party stands firmly behind Chairman Wontumi. Our legal team has already commenced the necessary steps to challenge the judgment through the appeal process.
The NPP considers Wontumi to be a political prisoner. The NPP considers Wontumi to be a political prisoner. The NPP as a political party considers Wontumi to be a political prisoner.
Thank you very much.
May God bless our homeland, Ghana.
