Charles Bissue (L) and Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng (R)
Former Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, has reacted to the 15 new corruption-related charges he has been slapped with by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
In a statement sighted by GhanaWeb, Charles Bissue said that the charges which were filed against him and one Andy Thomas Owusu had to do with the allegation against him in the 2019 “Galamsey Fraud” documentary by Tiger Eye PI.
He said that while he welcomes the decision of the OSP, all the allegations against him are unfounded and will be challenged in court.
“The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has filed a writ seeking to initiate prosecution against me and Mr Andy Thomas Owusu on charges, including the alleged misuse of public office for profit and corruption. This case pertains to the widely publicised ‘Galamsey Fraud’ investigation, as documented in the 2019 Tiger Eye PI report, which has been the subject of public discourse for several years.
“For the record, I categorically assert that I have always acted in full compliance with both the legal and ethical obligations of the office I held and the laws of the Republic of Ghana. Any suggestion of misconduct is baseless and will be vigorously challenged through due process,” parts of the statement read.
Bissue, also a former New Patriotic Party parliamentary candidate for Essikado-Ketan, called for transparency in the hearing of the case by the courts.
He said that the OSP must present the full facts of the case to the court and not edited versions of the documentary by Tiger Eye PI.
“I welcome the OSP’s decision to proceed with this case after more than five years of deliberation. To ensure transparency and fairness, I expect the OSP to submit to the court a complete, unedited, and unaltered version of the video documentary referenced in these proceedings. Ghanaians deserve access to the unvarnished truth and factual evidence, free from distortion or misdirection by external narratives or selective interpretations.
“The timing of this prosecution, occurring under a different government than the one in which I previously served, shows the importance of impartial judicial proceedings. It is my sincere hope that this process will allow all parties an equitable opportunity to present evidence and that the facts will be evaluated fairly, without bias,” he added.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) charged former Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, and Andy Thomas Owusu with 15 counts of corruption-related offences.
The charges filed at the High Court (Criminal Division) in Accra on April 28, 2025, alleged that between January and February 2019, while serving as IMCIM Secretary, Charles Bissue allegedly accepted a total of GH¢35,000 from one Benjamin Adjapong, directly and through Owusu, to fast-track the renewal of an expired mining licence for ORR Resources Enterprise.
According to court documents sighted by GhanaWeb on Monday, April 28, 2025, Charles Bissue faces nine counts including using public office for profit under Section 179C(a) of Act 29 for receiving GH¢15,000 on January 22, GH¢10,000 on January 30 and another GH¢10,000 on February 8 to bypass IMCIM vetting processes.
He is also charged with corruption by a public officer under Sections 239(1) and (3) of Act 29 (as amended by Act 1034) for accepting bribes to influence official duties.
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