At the High Court, drama broke out when the first defence witness took the stand to testify in behalf of former NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Wontumi.
Mining engineer Wisdom Edem Gomashie was forced to retract a number of details from his sworn statement after it was admitted into evidence by the court.
The witness’s educational background and credentials were found to be inconsistent during Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai’s cross-examination.
For instance, Edem Gomashie stated in his witness statement that he received his first degree in 1998, but when challenged about his age, he informed the court that he was born in April 1993.
Bewildered by the development, the Deputy Attorney General brought up yet another inconsistency: the witness statement claimed that the mining engineer received his master’s degree from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), but insisted that the degrees were actually given by the University of Ghana and the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT).
When asked about the discrepancies, Edem Gomashie acknowledged the flaws but insisted that the statement’s typographical errors and omissions were the cause.
The witness was instructed to make the necessary changes by presiding Judge Audrey Kocuvie-Tay so that the court could amend the records.
The mining engineer continued his testimony by stating that under Ghana’s mining legislation, verbal consent cannot be equivalent to the assignment of mineral rights.
After examining the charge sheet, the case’s facts, and the High Court’s decision, Wontumi’s first witness, citing the Mining Act 703, concluded that, among other things, the assignment of a mineral right requires a documented written approval from the lands minister, which he contended was absent.
Gomashie went on to say that allowing someone to do a reclamation exercise on the mining concession, as Wontumi did, did not amount to a transfer or assignment of Akonta Mining’s lease.
However, Deputy Attorney General Srem-Sai pointed out that the witness’s interpretation and expert judgement were not well-founded, suggesting that he lacked legal experience.
Chairman Wontumi and his business, Akonta Mining, are accused of assisting illicit mining at Samreboi in the Western Region and awarding mineral rights without authority.
They are on bond after entering a not guilty plea. A third suspect is still at large.
Source: newsthemegh.com