Samson Lardy Anyenini, a Private legal practitioner, has said Lawyer Andy Appiah-Kubi, who represented NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, did a disservice to his client.
The private legal practitioner highlighted that Appiah-Kubi’s strategy backfired and strengthened the Republic’s case.
Samson Lardy argued that the legal proceedings in Chairman Wontumi’s case showed that the NPP stalwart’s lawyer failed to effectively represent him.
According to Samson Lardy, Andy Appiah-Kubi did a poor job during the cross-examination, which ultimately contributed to Wontumi’s 20-year conviction.
Speaking during a discussion on JoyNews in a video shared on social media, “Wontumi’s lawyer, Appiah Kubi, in the cross-examination, actually, the main plank of their strategy was to say that once there is no document evidencing the bringing in of the third party, you cannot say that we have brought in a third party.
“…And that is how they intended to get him to escape. Unfortunately, that appears to have fallen apart and instead massively supported the Republic’s case,” he said.
While explaining his position, Samson Lardy further stated that the trial judge, Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, indicated in her judgment that Wontumi’s lawyer had done him a “disservice.”
“In fact, in the judgment, you will hear the judge say on a number of occasions, without stating it explicitly, that Wontumi’s lawyer also did him a disservice. Appiah Kubi did him a disservice.
“There were some cross-examinations that needed to be done on particular issues, but those matters were left without being properly addressed, or not addressed at all. Nobody challenged them after evidence had been led in a certain way. Appiah Kubi left those issues unattended to, and the court said, well, that is your problem. A significant part of this is discussed on pages 28 and 29 of the judgment,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has said Chairman Wontumi, the NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman, has been incarcerated while the actual galamsey kingpin has been left off the hook.
Oppong Nkrumah argued that Chairman Wontumi was not convicted for engaging in illegal mining but over activities allegedly carried out by another person on land linked to his company.
The NPP MP was quoted to have said, “Several NDC persons whose submission of no case had been rejected by the courts and had a case to answer, have been left off the hook by the NDC prosecutors and the courts”.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, Wontumi’s conviction did not stem from allegations that he personally engaged in illegal mining.
“Instead, Wontumi has been jailed not for illegal mining but that someone who he argues he gave his company’s former mine to, for purposes of reclamation, was found doing mining on it,” he stated.
Oppong Nkrumah further questioned why the individual allegedly involved in the mining activity was not punished.
“And yet the actual illegal miner has been set loose rather,” he said.
“This is not law or justice. It is a weaponising of the justice delivery system. This is why the NPP considers Wontumi a political prisoner. The justice system has been turned upside down,” Oppong Nkrumah added.
Also, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has described the 20-year sentence of Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, as a ‘travesty of justice’.
According to the NPP, they respect the authority and independence of the judiciary, but strongly disagreed with the court’s decision.
The NPP believed that the conviction could not be sustained on the evidence presented during the trial.
Watch the video below:
Did Lawyer Andy Appiah Kubi fail Chairman Wontumi? You have to listen to this. #JoySMS pic.twitter.com/dbtUKFYwtf
— Joy 99.7 FM (@Joy997FM) July 21, 2026
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