Lawyer for the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Chairman Wontumi, Samuel Atta Akyea has disclosed that his client is doing very fine and is in high spirits.
According to Lawyer Atta Akyea, his client has filed an appeal against his 20-year prison sentence, adding that the legal team will also file an application for bail pending the determination of the appeal.
Speaking to the media at the premises of the High Court on July 31, 2026, Atta Akyea stated, “He is very fine and in high spirits. He is also excited that we have lodged an appeal, and we will pursue it”.
“We will bring an application for bail pending appeal, so these are all the options we have, and we will exercise them properly,” he added.
His comments follow Chairman Wontumi and Akonta Mining Company Limited have filed an appeal against their sentences in the Samreboi illegal mining case.
Wontumi is asking the Court of Appeal to overturn the High Court’s judgment and acquit and discharge them on all four counts.
Chairman Wontumi’s notice of appeal, filed on Tuesday, July 28, challenges the entire judgment delivered by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay of the High Court’s Criminal Division 4 on July 20.
He is being represented by Samuel Atta Akyea; the appellants argue that the convictions are unreasonable and unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial.
According to them, the trial judge misinterpreted key provisions of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, and failed to consider the combined effect of sections 13(8) and 46 of the Act, which they say cleared them.
“Take Notice that the 1st and 3rd Accused persons/Appellants (“Appellants”) herein, who are dissatisfied with the judgment of the High Court (Criminal Division ‘4’), Accra, presided over by Her Ladyship Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, J., dated the 20th day of July 2026, do hereby appeal to the Court of Appeal upon the grounds set out in paragraph 3 hereof and will, at the hearing of the appeal, seek the reliefs set out in paragraph 4. And the 1st and 3rd Appellants further state that the names and addresses of the persons directly affected by the appeal are set out in paragraph 6,” part of the court document, which was dated July 28, 2026, read.
“GROUNDS OF APPEAL
a. The convictions are unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence adduced at the trial.
b. The learned trial judge did not read the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, as a whole. The combined effect of sections 13(8) and 46 of the said Act is exculpatory of the 1st and 3rd Appellants and consistent with their innocence.
c. The learned trial Judge usurped the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in flagrant contravention of Article 130(1)(a) and (2) of the 1992 Constitution in interpreting Article 19 of the Constitution against sections 14(1), 59 and 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended, and section 3 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2019 (Act 995), as clear, when both parties have rival meanings of the words ‘unless the offence is defined…. in a written law’,” the document further stated.
However, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, has disclosed that there is no proper basis for an appeal against Chairman Wontumi’s conviction and 20-year sentence.
According to the Deputy Attorney-General, he does not think any appeal against Wontumi’s conviction and 20-year sentence will succeed.
Speaking in an interview on TV3, Justice Srem Sai stated, “We don’t think there is any proper basis for anyone to appeal this decision. I don’t think any appeal will succeed against this case”.
Watch the video below:
Lawyer Atta Akyea, legal counsel for the NPP’s Ashanti Regional Chairman, Chairman Wontumi, has disclosed that an appeal has been filed challenging the 20-year prison sentence handed to his client, along with an application seeking bail pending the outcome of the appeal.
— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) July 31, 2026
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