Ghanaian lawyer and activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor has explained the legal meaning of a submission of no case following developments in the illegal mining trial involving Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, emphasizing that prosecutors must prove every element of an offence to secure a conviction.
Barker-Vormawor made the comments on Thursday, 5th February 2026, in a Facebook post responding to public questions about the procedure after the state closed its case in the Wontumi trial, prompting the defence to apply to file a submission of no case. The trial court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, has directed the defence to file its submission within 14 days after rejecting a four-week request, with the case adjourned to 18th February 2026.
Barker-Vormawor, a co-founder of the FixTheCountry movement, acknowledged he was surprised by the level of public confusion about the legal procedure. He said lawyers often speak in jargon without realizing how much is lost in translation when communicating with the public.
He explained that Ghana’s criminal justice system is based on strict standards of proof, requiring the prosecution to convince the court that an accused person committed a crime beyond all reasonable doubt. He noted that every criminal offence has specific elements, known as ingredients of the crime, which the prosecution must establish.
Using murder as an example, Barker-Vormawor said prosecutors must prove three things: that a person is dead, that the accused person killed the dead person, and that the accused intended to kill the dead person. He added that where intent is not proven, the appropriate charge would be manslaughter rather than murder.
Barker-Vormawor shared a personal case where an accused person spent seven years in prison even though the victim died from pneumonia and not from anything the accused had done, highlighting the importance of proper evidence and careful judicial procedures.
He explained that after the prosecution closes its case, the law allows the defence to file legal arguments showing that the prosecution failed to prove one or more ingredients of the crime, a procedure known as a submission of no case.
Relating the explanation to the Wontumi case, Barker-Vormawor said the defence is likely to argue that there was no mining activity at all, or that the prosecution failed to prove any mining that occurred was illegal, or that Wontumi had nothing to do with the alleged operations.
Chairman Wontumi and his company, Akonta Mining Company Limited, have been accused of permitting two people to undertake mining operations on their mining concession without obtaining approval from the sector minister. They face two counts of assignment of mineral rights without approval and two counts of purposely facilitating an unlicensed mining operation at Samreboi in the Western Region.
Barker-Vormawor emphasized that the key issue in any criminal trial is whether prosecutors were able to prove every element of the offence, noting that courts require more than accusations to secure convictions.
