Atta Akyea: Court of Appeal must review judge's interpretation of mining assignment in Wontumi Case

Samuel Atta Akyea, lead counsel for Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, expressed confidence on Saturday, July 25, that the Court of Appeal will examine the trial judge's interpretation of the law relating to mining assignments in his client's illegal mining conviction. This statement followed the Accra High Court's sentencing of Chairman Wontumi to 20 years' imprisonment for illegal mining activities on the Samreboi concession in the Western Region. Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay delivered the judgment on Monday, July 20, shortly after 11:40 a.m.

In addition to the custodial sentence, the court imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢120,000, with a default sentence of three years' imprisonment if the fine remains unpaid. Mr. Atta Akyea identified the court's treatment of the legal concept of assignment as a principal ground for challenging the judgment. He argued that the ownership and legal rights over the mining concession remained with Akonta Mining Limited despite workers operating on the concession, stating, "A worker on a concession hasn't gotten an assignment. The right to the concession still resides in the accused company, Akonta Mining." He believes the trial court's interpretation of assignment under Ghanaian law was flawed and should be reviewed.