Charles Bissue Is Not A Free Man – Martin Amidu

Special Prosecutor, Mr Martin Amidu has debunked news suggesting the Police CID has investigated allegations of corruption against the secretary of the Inter-ministerial Committee on illegal mining Charles Bissue and has further cleared him of any wrong doing.

According to him, his office is still investigating Mr Bissue, adding that he strongly protested the interference of the CID in the matter.

News broke early Monday morning indicating the Ghana Police Service has cleared Mr Charles Cromwell Nanabanyin Onuawonto Bissue, a presidential staffer and former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, of corruption.

This was after a four-month investigation following allegations by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in an illegal mining documentary which depicted Mr Bissue collecting various sums of money to allegedly bend the laws for some small-scale miners.

Mr Bissue was alleged to have taken a GHS35,000 bribe to help a make-believe mining firm ORR Resource Enterprise, circumvent all the necessary protocols pertaining to small-scale mining following the lifting of the ban imposed on such mining by the government.

In Anas’ undercover work titled Galamsey Fraud, Mr Bissue was captured on video issuing orders to some subordinates on the phone to fast-track ORR’s acquisition of a pass despite the company’s unworthiness.

However, Mr Amidu speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on Citi FM said, the police have no jurisdiction in the matter, and no minister can refer cases which belong to his office to other investigation board.

”And the police know that I’ve told them they can’t do it. And the Minister for the Interior knows that I’ve told him that for them to direct the police to do it is a political decision. If I’ve been set up to investigate without political direction, why will politicians send the case to the police when they know I’m supposed to handle it? We either want to set up the Office of the Special Prosecutor or we don’t.

”You can’t investigate a case when you haven’t heard both sides and this is not the first time this type of obstruction, which I’ve referred to in my write-up, is happening. People choose to interfere with my corruption investigations when they think it doesn’t suit them but we have to do a professional work – impartially. I have been brought here to do a job and that’s what I’m going to do” he said.