The High Court in Accra has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, for failing to appear in court without permission.

Chairman Wontumi alongside his team of lawyers were absent, and no explanation was provided to the court when the case was called at 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, October 28.

The prosecution team, led by Chief State Attorney Stella Ohene Appiah was however present.

Presiding judge Justice Audrey Kocuvi-Tay noted that the day’s proceedings were scheduled for the filing of disclosures and subsequent case management.

She expressed concern over the absence of the accused and his legal representatives, emphasising that they had offered “no excuse of any sort to the court.”

Chairman Wontumi is standing trial with Kwame Antwi, a director of Akonta Mining Limited and the company itself. The trio has been charged with assigning mineral rights without lawful approval.