Kumasi: CSP Richard Bukari, Public Relations Officer of the Kumasi Central Prisons, has explained the visiting arrangements for inmates in Ghana's prisons. According to him, the country's prison regulations do not permit visits to all categories of inmates on a daily basis.
According to Ghana Web, CSP Bukari, in an interview with Esra TV, stated that under Ghana's prison regulations, remand prisoners may be visited as frequently as possible, except on Saturdays and public holidays. He further clarified that convicted prisoners are allowed to receive visitors only once every two weeks. His comments come in the wake of the sentencing of Bernard Antwi Boasiako, widely known as Chairman Wontumi, to a 20-year imprisonment term.
Chairman Wontumi, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was sentenced after being found guilty by the Criminal Court 4 Division of the High Court on all six charges brought against him. Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, who delivered the judgment on July 20, 2026, ordered that the prison terms run concurrently and imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units on each of the six counts.
The case also involved Akonta Mining Limited, which was convicted on two counts and fined 15,000 penalty units on each count. These convictions were made under the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as amended by the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 995), which prescribes harsher penalties for illegal mining-related offences.
Chairman Wontumi, along with Akonta Mining Limited and a third accused, Kwame Antwi, faced prosecution over alleged illegal mining activities on the company's concession at Samreboi in the Western Region. The prosecution claimed that the accused unlawfully assigned mineral rights without the sector minister's approval and facilitated unauthorized mining activities, violating the Minerals and Mining Act's provisions.