The High Court in Accra has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, after he failed to appear in court without permission.
When the case was called at 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, October 28, both Chairman Wontumi and his team of lawyers were absent, with no explanation offered to the court.
The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Stella Ohene Appiah, was however present.
Presiding judge, Justice Audrey Kocuvi-Tay, noted that the day’s sitting was scheduled for the filing of disclosures and case management.
She expressed concern over the absence of the accused and his legal counsel, stressing that they had provided “no excuse of any sort to the court.”
Chairman Wontumi is standing trial alongside Kwame Antwi, a director of Akonta Mining Limited, and the company itself. The three have been charged with assigning mineral rights without lawful authority.
