The Communications Director for the United Party, Solomon Owusu, has described the 20-year prison sentence with hard labour handed to New Patriotic Party (NPP) Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, as a major victory in Ghana's fight against illegal mining (galamsey).

Reacting to the High Court's recent judgment, Mr Owusu said the conviction marks a significant step in efforts to tackle galamsey.

"The law has caught up with Wontumi, and rightly so," he said.

He added that the judgment "is a victory for the fight against galamsey."

Mr Owusu urged the public not to allow emotions to influence their assessment of the case, insisting that the focus should remain on enforcing the law against illegal mining.

He argued that galamsey has had severe consequences for public health, citing what he described as cases of deformities in babies, blindness, menstrual complications in women and other health challenges.

"If people knew what galamsey is doing to our health, I'm sure they would have called for a harsher sanction, a punitive judgement," he said.

Mr Owusu also welcomed what he described as the successful prosecution of a key figure in illegal mining, arguing that previous efforts had focused too heavily on lower-level operators.

He said arresting only low-level galamsey operators had hindered the fight against illegal mining.

"This is the first time a kingpin, somebody that is a financier, the main culprit has been hammered down with this sort of sentence, which is in the right direction," he said.