Court grants Atta Akyea leave to recall first prosecution witness for cross-examination

Yesterday, the High Court in Accra ruled in favor of lawyer Samuel Atta Akyea, representing Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, also known as Chairman Wontumi, in a Tano Nimiri illegal mining case. The court granted permission for Akyea to recall the first prosecution witness for an additional cross-examination. The trial, which has been postponed to Tuesday, November 17, was halted after the Attorney-General had finished presenting their case against Antwi-Boasiako, who is accused of aiding illegal mining activities in the Tano Nimiri Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region.

The prosecution called three witnesses to support their case, with the third and final witness, police detective Eugene Akpor Glover, testifying that Antwi-Boasiako had aided illegal mining activities at the Tano Nimiri mining concession. Akyea questioned the detective during cross-examination, suggesting that his client never personally operated any machinery at the concession.

Glover acknowledged Antwi-Boasiako's lack of direct involvement in machinery operation but added that the accused, known as Chairman Wontumi, had indirectly aided others in mining activities that were unlawful. Antwi-Boasiako faces two counts of abetting the unauthorized felling of trees in a forest reserve and violating the Forest Protection Act, 1974 (NRCD 243), as amended by the Forest Protection (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act 624).

The accused, along with his company, is charged with six counts, including mining without a license, felling trees without authorization, and aiding the unlawful felling of trees.