The fate of Charles Bissue will be determined after investigation – Government

General News on Thursday, April 25, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-04-25

The government said it could not establish the status of the former secretary of the Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue, as long as an investigation into his conduct was under way .

Charles Bissue voluntarily resigned as Secretary of the Committee after apparently being filmed collecting a bribe to facilitate the issuance of a mining license to Anas Aremeyaw. Anas exposes his illegal activities.

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh, announced on Thursday that the government would make a decision after the closure of the investigation into Mr. Bissue's fate in the "meet the press" series in Accra.

"Charles Bissue has resigned voluntarily on the basis of allegations against him and the investigation is ongoing. Until such an investigation ends, it may be too early to say what we need to do about Charles Bissue. "

Responding to calls for the dissolution of the Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Mr. Asomah Cheremeh said the committee was created to badist the state institutions that regulate the mining sector.

"The Interministerial Committee on Illegal Mining did not come in isolation. This was caused by the harm people were doing on the ground, destroying our bodies of water, causing environmental degradation, devastating the soil, using mercury here and there, causing illness to most of us. we and the government have thought it prudent to have another agency under the Department of Lands and Natural Resources to help us look at all these bad circumstances. "

In the video, Mr. Bissue was captured ostensibly accepting money to facilitate the unblocking of a mining company without following the prescribed procedure.

We hear him tell his subordinates to speed up the processing of the company's documents.

Several other people related to the work of the committee, also known as the Presidential Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources, appear in the video playing a role of "facilitator" for a negotiated fee.

Bissue is currently badisting the police in investigating the case.

Despite Mr. Bissue's refusal of any wrongdoing, Anas Aremeyaw Anas insists that he [Bissue] abused his office.

Anas also asked Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu to investigate the matter.

The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, told reporters that a thorough investigation would be conducted and that no one would be found protected.

"The government has taken note of a Tiger Eye PI documentary suggesting that it has uncovered acts that undermine the fight against illegal small-scale mining. The government will conduct an appropriate investigation into the said tapes using unedited raw images. If it turns out that someone has asked for money or accepted a bribe to break the rules, the necessary steps will be taken, "said Oppong Nkrumah.