Wontumi Files Motion for Bail Pending Appeal at High Court

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Bosiako, popularly known as Wontumi, has filed a motion at the High Court seeking bail pending appeal after being incarcerated at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.

According to court documents filed on August 5, 2026, and sighted by opemsuo.com, the application was submitted to the High Court of Justice, Criminal Division 4 in Accra under Suit No. CR/0004/2026.

Wontumi, who is listed as the 1st Appellant/Applicant, is seeking an order to be admitted to bail pending appeal pursuant to Section 96(1) of Act 30 and Section 33(1) of Act 459.

The Notice of Motion states that counsel for Wontumi will move the court on the 19th day of August 2026 at 9 O’clock in the forenoon or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard.

The application is supported by an accompanying affidavit outlining the grounds upon which the request for bail is being made.

The motion was filed by Samuel Atta Akyea, Esq. of Zoe, Akyea & Co., who is counsel for the 1st and 3rd Appellants.

Background
The court convicted him and his company, Akonta Mining Company Limited, on six counts relating to illegal mining at the company’s concession in Samreboi, Western Region.

Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay found Wontumi guilty of assigning mineral rights to two persons without approval from the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, and of facilitating unlicensed mining activities on the concession.

The court cited the gravity of the offences and the devastating impact of illegal mining on the environment. In addition to the jail term, Wontumi was fined GHS120,000 or 3 years in default.

The court also ordered the confiscation of excavators, water-pumping machines, guns and cash seized during a police operation.

Akonta Mining was fined GHS180,000.

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