The Office of the Attorney General says it will strongly oppose an application seeking to delay judgment in the criminal case involving Ashanti Regional New Patriotic Party (NPP) Chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, over alleged illegal mining activities in Samreboi.
Samuel Atta Akyea, who recently became Chairman Wontumi’s lawyer, filed the application asking the court to postpone its judgment. However, the Attorney General’s Office insists the request has no legal basis and wants the court to continue with the case.
On Thursday, June 25, Senior State Attorney Nana Ama Prempeh filed a 13-paragraph affidavit opposing the application. The prosecution is urging the court to dismiss the request and proceed with delivering judgment.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, Chairman Wontumi had legal representation throughout the trial. It argues that his former lawyer chose to withdraw voluntarily and not because of circumstances beyond his control.
“In a 13-paragraph affidavit in opposition deposed to by Nana Ama Prempeh, a Senior State Attorney, and filed this afternoon, the Attorney General strongly argues that the accused person having been represented by Counsel throughout the trial and that Counsel only withdrawing voluntarily and not for cause, the proper source for a new Lawyer to procure the records of and any brief or briefing on the case is the outgoing counsel and not the Court’s Registry,” the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) wrote in a Facebook post.
The prosecution also questioned the actions of Samuel Atta Akyea. It claims he did not act in good faith by requesting the case records directly from the court’s registry instead of obtaining them from Chairman Wontumi’s previous lawyer.
