Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng has stated that all former members of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) are being investigated for corruption and corruption-related crimes involving galamsey.
In an interview with Samson Lardy Anyenini of Joy FM’s Newsfile On Saturday, June 10th, Mr. Kissi Agyebeng stated that the OSP has been looking into the committee for quite some time now due to allegations and counterallegations of corruption.
Mr. Kissi Agyebeng stated that his office’s investigation of corruption was in line with its obligations and that whenever allegations of corruption arise, he will do all it takes to see that justice is served. He emphasised that his office will operate impartially and treat everyone who comes before it equally.
The Special Prosecutor’s Office has recently been in the spotlight as Professor Frimpong-Boateng, who was invited by the office, spoke publicly about recent occurrences.
Likewise, Charles Bissue, a former presidential employee, who asked the High Court to prevent an OSP investigation into his alleged involvement in corruption and corruption-related crimes while he awaits trial.
Because of this, the OSP was able to get a warrant for for his arrest. The Special Prosecutor obtained this order after Charles Bissue ignored a summons issued to him last month.
In December of last year, the OSP announced that it was investigating a number of people and organisations for corruption in connection with illegal mining. These included the indigenous mining company Akonta Mining Limited, Mr. Bissue, members of the Lands Commission, the Forestry Commission, and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, as well as various mining organisations, people, and political party officials.
Mr. Bissue, however, has denied the claims made about him in the documentary. Meanwhile, in July of this year (2019), Mr. Bissue was cleared of any wrongdoing or allegations of corruption by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
According to the CID’s investigation, the documentary’s depiction of events between Mr. Bissue and Yaw Ben of ORR Resource Enterprise was inaccurate.
The Tiger Eye documentary was an important source for the CID, along with other information, but the documentary’s primary investigator, Mr. Anas Aremeyaw Anas, “failed to avail himself to assist in investigations” and “failed to provide a copy of the unedited version of the documentary,” according to the CID report.
