The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, has extended an apology to President John Mahama and First Lady Lordina Mahama over comments he made about them during the 2024 election campaign.
The apology comes as Wontumi seeks clemency from the President following his conviction and subsequent 20-year prison sentence for offences related to illegal mining.
According to his spokesperson, Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, the former NPP chairman communicated the apology during an interview with Citi FM as part of an appeal for President Mahama to consider granting him mercy under the constitutional prerogative of mercy.
Boakye-Danquah explained that the apology was intended as a gesture of goodwill and reconciliation, particularly if any of Wontumi’s previous comments were considered excessive or offensive.
He said the apology should not, however, be viewed as an admission that Wontumi’s political disagreements with President Mahama had any influence on the legal proceedings that resulted in his conviction.
The spokesperson maintained that the request for forgiveness was aimed at promoting peace and reconciliation rather than suggesting that political considerations played a role in the prosecution.
Wontumi was handed a 20-year prison sentence after the Criminal Court 4 Division of the High Court found him guilty on all six charges brought against him.
The case involved Wontumi, Akonta Mining Limited and another accused person, Kwame Antwi, in connection with alleged illegal mining operations on a mining concession at Samreboi in Ghana’s Western Region.
The prosecution alleged that mineral rights linked to the concession were transferred without the necessary approval from the sector minister, while mining activities were also carried out without the required legal authorisation, contrary to provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act.
