Media and governance advocate Kenneth Ashigbey has strongly denied claims circulating on social media that he influenced the conviction of Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, describing the allegations as false and malicious.
In a press release issued in Accra on Monday, July 21, Ashigbey rejected reports alleging that he had claimed to be confident Wontumi would be jailed because the trial judge was his sister-in-law, insisting he had never made such a statement.
“I never made that statement. It is false,” Ashigbey said, stressing that the quoted remarks were entirely fabricated.
He further clarified that the July 20, 2026 judgment in the Republic v. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, Kwame Antwi (At Large), and Akonta Mining Company Limited case was unrelated to a separate petition he filed together with Martin Kpebu, Edem Senanu and Kwame Asiedu.
According to him, their petition remains pending before a different court and has neither been heard on its merits nor determined. He described attempts to link the two cases as “deliberate mischief” intended to mislead the public.
Ashigbey also dismissed suggestions of a conflict of interest, stating that he was not a party to the case that resulted in Wontumi’s conviction and therefore had no direct interest in its outcome. He urged the public to allow the judiciary to perform its constitutional duties without undue attacks.
“The judiciary must be allowed to do its work,” he said, warning that dragging judges’ names and alleged family relationships into public discourse to discredit court decisions undermines confidence in Ghana’s justice system.
Reaffirming his long-standing position on illegal mining, Ashigbey said his advocacy since 2017 has consistently called for the maximum punishment for individuals who organise, finance and profit from galamsey activities.
He noted that his stance has remained unchanged for the past eight years and urged the public to disregard what he described as inaccurate claims while focusing on the substantive fight against illegal mining.
