WONTUMI’S WITNESS SHREDS AG INTO PIECES
Mining engineer’s testimony exposes legal gap in Attorney General’s case against Chairman Wontumi, arguing verbal permission holds no weight under Ghana’s mining law.
- Expert witness said verbal permission is “null and void” under Ghana’s mining law.
- Transfer of mineral rights needs formal process and ministerial approval.
- Defence argues testimony weakens prosecution’s case against Wontumi and his company.
A bombshell testimony rocked the Samreboi concession trial on Thursday as defence expert witness Wisdom Edem Gomashie delivered what many observers described as a surgical dismantling of the prosecution’s case against mining magnate Chairman Wontumi.
Testifying as an expert mining engineer, Gomashie drew a sharp and legally devastating line between the application for mineral rights and the allocation of those rights, exposing what the defence argues is a fundamental flaw at the heart of the Attorney General’s case.
His central blow to the prosecution was blunt and unambiguous: verbal permission means nothing in Ghana’s mining law. Zero. Null. Void.
“The assignment of mineral rights constitutes a formal legal transaction,” Gomashie told the court, making clear that no informal exchange, spoken or otherwise, can legally amount to the transfer or assignment of mineral rights under Ghana’s legislative framework.
He went further, stressing that any such transfer must follow laid-down procedures, including express authorisation from the minister responsible for mines, a threshold the prosecution has yet to demonstrate was crossed.
Chairman Wontumi and his company face six counts over allegations that they allowed Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to mine on their concession without prior ministerial approval.
All accused have pleaded not guilty and remain on bail.
With one witness, one testimony, and one courtroom appearance, the defence may have just rewritten the trajectory of this trial.
