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Ghana’s main opposition party has reacted with anger after one of its most influential leaders was sentenced to 20 years in jail, with hard labour, for illegal mining offences.<\/b><\/p>\n
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) alleged that the landmark judgement against Bernard Antwi Boasiako, the party’s chairman for the Ashanti region, was politically motivated.<\/p>\n
Popularly known as “Chairman Wontumi”, Boasiako is the first senior politician in Ghana to be convicted of illegal mining since the government began a crackdown on the practice in 2017.<\/p>\n
As well as receiving a jail sentence, Boasiako, who had denied the charges, was ordered to pay more than $10,000 (\u00a37,450) in fines.<\/p>\n
He looked visibly shocked when the judge handed down the sentence in a court in the capital, Accra, on Monday.<\/p>\n
The NPP politician was found guilty of “assigning mineral rights without approval” and “facilitating an unlicensed mining operation” through his company, Akonta Mining.<\/p>\n
Ghana is Africa’s leading gold producer, but a large portion of the country’s waters and environment have been polluted by illegal mining, known as locally as “galamsey”.<\/p>\n
Over the years, governments have attempted to tackle the problem, even deploying the military, to little effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n