Chairman Wontumi

Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, is a Ghanaian politician, businessman and media owner. He was the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) from 2014, one of the most powerful posts in the party, and owns Wontumi Radio and Movement TV. On 20 July 2026 the High Court in Accra convicted him over illegal mining at a concession near Samreboi and sentenced him to 20 years in prison; his appeal is pending.

Early life

He was born on 1 May 1976 and comes from the Ashanti Region. He had his secondary education at Prempeh College in Kumasi.

Politics

Ashanti NPP delegates elected him Regional Chairman in January 2014. He was re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022, when he polled 464 votes against 306 for Odeneho Kwaku Appiah (COKA). Known for blunt, colourful remarks on radio, he became one of the best-known faces of the party in its stronghold. In June 2026 he announced plans to contest the NPP national chairmanship, saying criticism of his spoken English would not stop him.

After his conviction the regional post was filled on 15 August 2026, when COKA won the Ashanti chairmanship election at Jubilee Park in Kumasi.

Business and media

Wontumi owns Wontumi Radio and Movement TV and is linked to Akonta Mining Company Limited, which held a mining concession in the Western Region. In 2025 several of his radio stations were among those suspended by the National Communications Authority over licensing breaches.

Illegal mining case

In 2025 he was arrested and charged over alleged illegal mining on the Samreboi concession, and was granted bail while the case went on. The Attorney-General prosecuted him alongside Akonta Mining and a fellow director, Kwame Antwi, who was tried in absentia.

On 20 July 2026 Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay of the Accra High Court found him guilty of assigning mineral rights without ministerial approval and facilitating unlicensed mining. She held that he was the true holder of the mineral right behind the company and sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment with hard labour, with the sentences running concurrently, plus fines. Akonta Mining was also fined. The NPP described him as a political prisoner.

His lawyers filed an appeal on 28 July 2026, challenging the convictions, the reading of the Minerals and Mining Act and the length of the sentence. He is held at Nsawam Medium Security Prison. At a hearing on 15 October 2026 his lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, asked the High Court for bail pending appeal, while Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai argued he was a flight risk. The court fixed 4 November 2026 for its ruling.