The governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dismissed the opposition New Patriotic Party's (NPP) claim that Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, is a political prisoner following his conviction.

Deputy Director of Elections and IT of the NDC, Rashid Tanko Computer, argued that the High Court's judgment was based entirely on evidence presented during the trial and contained no indication of political persecution.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews' PM Express on Monday, in response to the NPP's criticism of the ruling, Mr Tanko challenged those questioning the judgment to read the court's decision in full.

"This is a ruling. The ruling is here. You read it. All those speaking – have they read the ruling? Tell me throughout the ruling whether you have seen any political issues in that. There is nothing. So where from this rendition of a political prisoner? Who is persecuting whom?" he asked.

He accused the NPP of attempting to politicise a judicial process despite what he described as overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing.

Mr Tanko urged that the judgment be translated into major Ghanaian languages, including Akan, Dagbani, and Hausa, among others, to allow the public to understand the court's reasoning firsthand.

"It will do us good as a country if we can buy airtime and air this ruling to the whole country. Translate it into Akan, Dagbani, Hausa, Kokomba and all the major languages in Ghana so that Ghanaians will see the ruling and determine whether the press conference they held today was not a cheap propaganda exercise," he said.

He further maintained that even witnesses associated with the prosecution had provided evidence linking the convicted NPP chairman to the alleged offences.

According to Mr Tanko, one of the prosecution witnesses had led investigators to Kumasi to identify a person who allegedly supplied equipment connected to the case, stressing that the evidence was not disputed during the trial.

His comments come after the NPP insisted that Chairman Wontumi's conviction was politically motivated and described him as a victim of persecution after he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in an illegal mining case.