GH¢157K, gold, eight pump action guns, others found at Wontumi's Atonka mining site - AG details
GH¢157K, gold, eight pump action guns, others found at Wontumi's Atonka mining site - AG details
mediahouz 
Following the rearrest of Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also known as Chairman Wontumi, on October 7, 2025, new details have emerged about his Akonta mining site.
In a court document sighted by and signed by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, on October 6, 2025, it details that some weapons were found at Wontumi's Akonta mining site (3rd accused person, A3) in the ongoing legal tussle.
In the document, the Attorney General established that during an operation held at the Akonta mining site on April 16, 2025, the Ghana Police Service discovered a sum of GH¢157,000, 310 cartridges, eight pump-action guns, and 25 serviceable excavators.
The AG further detailed that the police retrieved five pieces of metal gold concealed in a sachet, one grease gun, and four machetes, among other items.
The document also notes that the Ghana Police Service arrested a 50-year-old man identified as Michael Ayisi Gyedu and 28 others within the Akonta mining site.
"...Ghana Police Service embarked on a special operation on April 16, 2025, in the Samreboi area. At the end of the operation on April 17, 2025, the police arrested MICHAEL AYISI GYEDU, a 50-year-old native of Samreboi, and 28 others within A3's concession in Samreboi. During the arrest, the police retrieved the following items:
'Eight (8) pump-action guns, one (1) single-barreled gun, five (5) pieces of metal suspected to be gold concealed in a sachet, four (4) machetes, several water pumping machines, three hundred and ten (310) AAA/BB cartridges, one (1) grease gun, four (4) motorcycles, two (2) vehicles, cash amounting to one hundred and fifty-seven thousand Ghana cedis only (GH¢157,000.00), twenty-five (25) serviceable excavators, and four (4) non-serviceable excavators," the document states.
The attorney general, in his report, also detailed how the arrest of Michael Ayisi Gyedu aided in the operation to apprehend another individual, identified as Henry Okum.
According to the document, a certain Henry Okum informed police investigators that in September 2024, he sought permission from Chairman Wontumi to undertake mining activities at his Akonto mining site.
According to Henry Okum, Chairman Wontumi (A1) permitted him to embark on the mining activities without obtaining a license from the right authorities.
"... Upon his arrest, Michael Ayisi Gyedu named another, Henry Okum (a 44-year-old native of Krobo Odumase), as his employer, who assigned him to supervise the mining activities on the concession. Further, Michael Gyedu Ayisi stated that he and his fellow employees, as part of the mining activities on the concession, undertook land reclamation on parts of the concession that had been devastated whilst mining on the unmined portions of the land.
"... Investigations have established that A1 did agree to this proposal and gave Henry Okum permission to carry out mining operations within the concession. Further investigations have, however, established that A1 allowed HENRY OKUM to carry out mining activities within A3's concession without seeking or obtaining the legally mandated approval of the Minister.
Background
Chairman Wontumi was rearrested on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, after being officially charged by the state over allegations of involvement in illegal mining.
Ghanaweb previously reported that the rearrest relates to a second case against Wontumi, also linked to his mining activities.
He was sent to the Criminal Court at the Accra High Court, where another set of criminal charges was expected to be filed against him.
Ghanaweb's team at the court confirmed that the second case concerns allegations of illegal mining (galamsey) against Wontumi and four other accused persons, Edward Akuoko, Owusu Bempah, and Kwame Antwi, the Director of Akonta Mining Limited, who remains at large.
