Attorney General Opposes Bid to Delay Judgment in Chairman Wontumi Illegal Mining Trial

The Office of the Attorney General has opposed an application seeking to postpone judgment in the criminal trial involving Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over allegations linked to illegal mining activities in Samreboi.

The application to defer the scheduled judgment was filed by the accused’s new lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, who recently took over the case.

In response, the Office of the Attorney General filed a 13-paragraph affidavit in opposition on Thursday, June 25. The affidavit, sworn by Senior State Attorney Nana Ama Prempeh, urges the High Court to dismiss the application and proceed with the delivery of judgment as scheduled.

According to the prosecution, the request lacks merit because Chairman Wontumi was represented by legal counsel throughout the trial, and his previous lawyer’s decision to withdraw from the case was voluntary rather than the result of circumstances beyond his control.

The Attorney General argues that under such circumstances, it is the responsibility of the incoming lawyer to obtain the necessary case records and briefing from the outgoing counsel, rather than requesting certified records from the court registry.

“In a 13-paragraph affidavit in opposition deposed to by Nana Ama Prempeh, a Senior State Attorney, the Attorney General strongly argues that the accused person, having been represented by counsel throughout the trial, and counsel only withdrawing voluntarily and not for cause, the proper source for a new lawyer to procure the records and any briefing on the case is the outgoing counsel and not the Court Registry,” a statement shared by Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) on Facebook said.

The prosecution further contends that Atta Akyea’s decision to seek the records directly from the court registry instead of obtaining them from the previous legal representative was not made in good faith.

The High Court is expected to determine whether the application to defer judgment will be granted before proceeding with the case involving Chairman Wontumi and his co-accused, who have denied the allegations against them.

Source: citinews