Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, has become the first member of the elephant family to be convicted and jailed by the state since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1992.
Over the past three decades, Ghana has witnessed several high-profile convictions, predominantly involving officials of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
However, no high-ranking NPP official or Member of Parliament (MP) had featured on that list, until now. On July 20, 2026, Wontumi’s company, Akonta Mining, was convicted for illegal mining offences, etching his name into the tall list of political figures who have faced the law.
He thus set an unwanted record for the opposition party.
Angelonline revisits the catalogue of jailed or convicted high-profile personalities, mostly from the NDC, for offences including corruption, causing financial loss, and stealing between 1992 and 2024.
Daniel Abodakpi (Trade Minister) and Tsatsu Tsikata (GNPC CEO) were jailed in 2007 and 2008, respectively, for causing financial loss to the state. Kwame Peprah (Finance Minister) and Ibrahim Adam (Agriculture Minister) were jailed for their roles in the Quality Grain scandal.
Victor Selormey (Deputy Finance Minister) was convicted in connection with the “retained funds” scandal. Abuga Pele and Assibi Azongbata were convicted in 2018 for their involvement in the GYEEDA scandal.
Eugene Baffoe-Bonnie, William Matthew Tevie, and Alhaji Salifu Osman were sentenced in 2020 for misapplying public funds in the NCA scandal. Sedinam Tamakloe Attionu (MASLOC CEO) was also convicted in 2024 for embezzlement and money laundering.
Dr. George Sipa Yankey and Dr. Ato Quarshie resigned in 2009 following their involvement in the Mabey & Johnson bribery scandal and later faced jail sentences.
Dr. Nana Owusu Ensaw and others were convicted of stealing $3 million out of $4 million meant for the purchase of a cyber security surveillance system, the Pegasus machine, for the National Security Council Secretariat.
In July 2001, former Ghanaian Minister of Youth and Sports, Mallam Ali Yusuf Issah, was also convicted for stealing and fraudulently causing a $46,000 financial loss to the state.
