Former Secretary to the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) Charles Bissue has disclosed the reason behind his resolve to see to the logical conclusion of his case with investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng.
According to him, a conversation he had with a former judge who claimed has been wrongly implicated by Anas Aremeyaw Anas has left him “with a personal pledge to ensure that innocent public servants including myself who are only committed to serving our country diligently will not be blackmailed or wrongly implicated”.
He narrated: “When I started my case, I had a call from a former judge in the Volta Region who has also become a victim of Anas’ insidious work, declaring his support for me.
“According to him monies were placed on a table in front of him. He refused whatever they wanted to offer him. The money was then taken away. Unfortunately, Anas captured the bit where the money was in front of him and left all the other conversations but with the narrative that he is a corrupt judge.”
Speaking in an interview on Takoradi-based Radio 360, Mr. Bissue said he then inquired from the judge why he was not fighting his case only for him to learn that the former judge had to abandon the case because he was spending a fortune on the services of lawyers.
“He told me I will be shocked if he told me how much he had spent on lawyers trying to clear his name. I’ve spent thousands of cedis. He told me that the shock he had from the news of Anas’ work has left him with hypertension. He now struggles to buy his medicine because his finances have been badly impacted. Why should that happen?”
He reiterated his resolve to see that justice is done irrespective of the number of years that will take.
“I want my case to be an example. People come to office either to serve or use the power to lord over others. I came to serve. And for anyone who came to serve but has been wrongly implicated, I want to use my case to offer them hope. I want to use my case to cause a cessation of this unfortunate situation that often scares good people with the right expertise and intent from taking public appointments.”
Charles Bissue insisted that the work of Anas has rather done a great disservice to the country’s fight against illegal mining.
“I will implore you to check the statistics during the time of the IMCIM and the statistics now. Some may rejoice over the work Anas did but ultimately we all may suffer.”
Mr Bissue currently has two applications at the Human Rights Court, against the Special Prosecutors Office.
He is challenging the OSP on grounds of human rights abuses and bias, and also praying the court for a judicial review of processes taken by the OSP in respect of investigations conducted and/or concluded on allegations leveled against him by Anas Aremeyaw Anas in the ‘Galamsey Fraud Part 1’ documentary.