OSP secures arrest warrant for Charles Bissue

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has reportedly secured a warrant for the arrest of the former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue.

This is according to a post shared by JoyNews on Twitter on Thursday, June 8, 2023.

It is not clear why the warrant was issued but it might be related to the arrest of the former chairman of IMCIM and former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, by the OSP.

The former minister was arrested on May 16, 2023, in relation to some corruption allegations in the work of the IMCIM.

Prof Frimpong-Boateng was granted a GH¢2 million bail by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

This follows an invitation from the OSP to the former minister to appear before it in an ongoing investigation into some corruption-related matters relating to a report he spearheaded on activities of small-scale mining in the country.

According to a report by 3news.com, the renowned heart surgeon has since been granted bail.

On May 4, 2023, GhanaWeb reported that the former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, had been invited by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, to assist with investigations following allegations raised in a report submitted to the presidency.

Prof. Frimpong had made suggestions that some elements in the New Patriotic Party and the government had made attempts to frustrate his work and sabotage him during his work as chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

In the statement dated, May 4, 2023, Prof. Frimpong-Boateng noted that he had duly received the invitation and had indicated his willingness to cooperate.

He noted that he was described as ‘a person necessary for the investigation’.

The investigations will help bring clarity to issues of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences in respect of the activities and expenditure of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

“I have formally communicated my willingness to attend the invitation and to support the OSP in its work,” he said.