The Office of the Attorney General has taken a firm stance against an application seeking to postpone judgment in the criminal trial involving Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, over alleged illegal mining activities in Samreboi.
In a 13-paragraph affidavit filed on Thursday, June 25, Senior State Attorney Nana Ama Prempeh urged the court to dismiss the request and proceed with the delivery of judgment, arguing that the application lacks legal merit.
The application to defer judgment was filed by Samuel Atta Akyea, who recently took over the legal representation of Chairman Wontumi. He is seeking additional time to familiarize himself with the case after assuming responsibility for the defence.
However, the Attorney General’s Office maintains that the accused had legal representation throughout the trial and that the withdrawal of his former lawyer was voluntary and not due to circumstances that would justify delaying the proceedings.
According to the prosecution, the appropriate avenue for the new lawyer to obtain the case records and necessary briefing is through the outgoing counsel rather than the court’s registry.
The Attorney General further contends that the decision by the new defence lawyer to request the records directly from the court instead of the previous legal representative was not made in good faith.
The prosecution is therefore asking the court to reject the application and allow the case to proceed to judgment without further delay.
