Former Western Regional Minister Okyere Darko-Mensah testifies in Wontumi’s trial and tenders video evidence
A former Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, who chaired the Regional Security Council during his tenure, has testified in support of the defence of Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, in the ongoing illegal mining case involving Akonta Mining Limited.
The witness on Wednesday, May 28, 2026 tendered in evidence, a video recording of the Samreboi concession of the mining company, which he said was taken during an inspection of the site while he served as Chairman of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
The video, on a pen drive, was admitted in evidence by the Accra High Court after the court overruled an objection by the prosecution challenging its authenticity.
Appearing before the court, counsel for the accused persons, Andy Appiah-Kubi, informed the court that the defence intended to call Mr Darko-Mensah as its next witness.
Mr Appiah-Kubi also indicated that two witness statements had been filed on May 25 and May 28, 2026, and prayed the court to conduct Case Management Conference (CMC) on the statements.
Chairman Wontumi and his company are facing six charges over allegations that they permitted Henry Okum and Michael Gyedu Ayisi to undertake mining activities on the Akonta Mining concession without obtaining prior approval from the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
Prosecution
In court on Thursday, the Senior State Attorney, Nana Ama Prempeh, told the court that the prosecution had not been served with all the witness statements.
She explained that although she had followed up on the filings earlier in the morning, the defence had only handed over one of the statements in court.
According to her, a cursory look at one of the witness statements revealed that it was for a witness named Evans Adai, whose name had not previously been listed among the possible witnesses for the defence.
“We therefore ask that you ask counsel to give us list of all witnesses going forward so that we don’t conduct CMC in piecemeal,” she prayed the court.
The court said one of the witness statements had been filed less than an hour before proceedings and that the court was yet to receive a copy.
The court consequently proceeded to conduct CMC on the witness statement of Mr Darko-Mensah filed on May 25, 2026.
Video
Counsel for the accused further informed the court that attached to the witness statement was a video footage contained on a pen drive.
He prayed the court to adopt both the witness statement and the pen drive for purposes of the trial.
But the prosecution objected to the admission of the pen drive, arguing that there was no time stamp on the video to establish where and when it was recorded.
“We are therefore praying that this pen drive be rejected,” Nana Ama Prempeh submitted.
In response, Mr Appiah-Kubi argued that the purpose of playing the video was to confirm its contents, adding that paragraph 39 of the witness statement had already explained the reason for taking the video and the circumstances under which it was recorded.
He therefore prayed the court to admit it as relevant evidence in the trial.
Ruling on the objection, the court held that the concerns raised by the prosecution could be addressed during cross-examination.
“Having listened to both counsel, it is the considered view of this court that the concerns raised by counsel for the Republic can be addressed through cross-examination,” the court ruled.
The case has been adjourned to June 1, 2026, at 2 p.m.
