Barely 24 hours after the former chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Professor Frimpong Boateng, announced he was arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the OSP has secured an order from the court to arrest former Secretary of the IMCIM, Charles Onuawonto Bissue.
This follows an investigation and expose carried out by Tiger Eye PI, dubbed “Galamsey Economy,” where the presidential staffer was allegedly on record in galamsey-related transactions.
The OSP had invited Mr. Bissue in May 2023 to present himself to assist with investigations.
However, Mr. Bissue declined the invitation from the Special Prosecutor on the said date.
Declining the first invitation dated May 3, Mr. Bissue’s lawyers wrote to the OSP to get a copy of the petition that served as the basis for this invitation and to request that the meeting be postponed due to “a domestic emergency.”
While the OSP requested that Mr. Bissue turn himself in on May 22, the lawyers proposed a date of May 25.
Subsequently, the presidential staffer did not honour the OSP’s invitation, hence the fresh order from the OSP for his arrest.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bissue has filed a new lawsuit with the court, requesting that it nullify the arrest order that was issued against him and declare that the OSP is infringing on his human rights.
Mr. Bissue added that the matter has already been investigated and concluded by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service; hence, the court should prevent the OSP from investigating him again.
