Former secretary of the Inter-ministerial Committee on illegal mining, Charles Bissue has been vindicated years after been accused of corruption in the fight against Galamsey.
The NPP Western Regional Secretary whose name was dragged to the mud said he kept his cool knowing he is innocent of all the allegations levelled against him.
Undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in a 14-day investigation into the activities of the Inter-ministerial Committee captured Bissue compromising his integrity having accepted cash to facilitate the issuance of license among others.
A day after premiering the documentary dubbed: “Galamsey Fraud”, Mr. Bissue had dutifully informed President Nana Akufo-Addo of his decision to step aside to allow investigations into the case.
Police report on July 22, 2019, cleared that the former presidential staffer was “clean” and cleared him of any wrongdoing without mentioning the names of his offenders.
However, it has emerged that a worker at the Inter-ministerial Committee on illegal mining office then, masterminded the plot that saw Charles Bissue receiving money in a video that was widely circulated.
Speaking for the first time on the plot issue – the much-respected politician told ‘StarrChart’ host, Nana Aba Anamoah on Starr FM that he was briefed about his offenders but never made it public.
“I wasn’t going to talk about this. All the time I have been interviewed about this but said vindication is in the womb of time but today, a certain radio station leaked the police report which I have known for about two years.
“I didn’t speak about it because I have sworn an oath to defend my party and the government at all time but I knew the people behind it,” he said
Charles Bissue noted that – “Today, a radio station mentioned the name so I will say it, one Francis Owusu Akyeaw, he worked with me and I sacked him.”
“He was introduced to me by Professor Frimpong Boateng and one Oliver Boakye as a geologist but eventually it turned out that he wasn’t. During his working days with me, he kept telling me about forest reserves that we need to go and my gold but I wasn’t interested,”
“The guy continues to introduce dubious things. Something we will go to Kumasi, Golden Tulip hotel but the time I wake up he is there at 6 am and people [miners] are there with envelopes with money but I will turn them away. They wall want to mine illegally. I reported this guy to the prof and eventually told the guy to leave” he narrated
Payback time
Mr Bissue further told Nana Aba Anamoah how Francis Owusu Akyeaw conspired with the aide of the NPP Ashanti regional chairman Bernard Antwi Bosiako known popularly as Chairman Wontumi to pay him back for his dismissal.
“On December 17th, when the ban was lifted, I met Chairman Wontumi who has promised to donate an amount of money to my regional organizer towards a party program – so he [Wontumi] sent his aide [Andy] to deliver to me the money which was twenty thousand [GHC20,000],”
“Andy called me that he has to see me deliver the money promised by his boss. According to him, somebody also called him [Andy] that he wants to see me, that was the Francis guy who chose to use Andy to get to me.”
“So, in the video, you could hear that someone said ‘Chairman said I should give you this’ that was Wontumi. When I took the money, I knew where it was coming from it wasn’t anything connected to mining. I was then captured by Francis’s guy who had joined Andy in my office. “
“Andy lied to me that the guy is a party boy who Chairman Wontumi wanted me to help but chairman didn’t even know the guy, fortunately, the police caught them [Andy and Francis] on camera at Holiday Inn discussing issues.” He narrated
He maintained that “I never took any money from anyone. It was all a setup to tarnish my reputation.”
