Despite announcing to the whole world that he was ready to face the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), Charles Cromwell Nanabayin Onuawonto Bissue, has pulled another fast one on everybody by rushing to court to seek a 10-day interim injunction against his arrest
His move has forced the OSP, saying it does not need a warrant to arrest a suspect.
“The general public is advised that, in the exercise of its police powers, the Office of the Special Prosecutor can arrest without a warrant, any person it reasonably suspects of having committed corruption or corruption-related offences”, the office said on Twitter shortly after a Human Rights Court presided over by Justice Nicholas Abodakpi, issued an interim injunction restraining the Office of the Special Prosecutor or its agents from executing an alleged arrest warrant against Mr Charles Bissue in connection with corruption-related offences.
The court issued the order yesterday Thursday, June 15, 2023 to stop the OSP from arresting the former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) who is under criminal investigations and was recently declared a wanted man by the OSP, after he failed to honour an invitation.
The 10-day interim injunction was granted by the court, following an application by Mr Bissue’s lawyers.
Mr Bissue is wanted by the OSP in connection with corruption-related allegations.
The office issued a wanted notice to the public in that regard after Mr Bissue failed to honour an invitation by the Special Prosecutor.
The court, presided over by Justice Nicholas Abodakpi, said the interim injunction also restrains the OSP from executing an arrest warrant against Mr Bissue, publishing any notice that declares him a wanted person and applying for further warrant of arrest within the 10 day period.
The court will hear the substantive case on June 22, 2023.
On Tuesday, Mr Bissue, expressed his intention to visit the OSP to provide the necessary information requested of him by that office.
His decision, was contrary to his lawyer’s insistence that he will not turn himself in to the OSP.
Kissi Agyepong, the Special Prosecutor, had declared Mr Bissue wanted for “corruption and corruption-related offences regarding the activities and expenditures of the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), especially in respect of the seizure and management of the excavators, machinery, road vehicles, and gold nuggets; and use of public office for profit”.
Interestingly, Mr Bissue and his lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, have been playing hide and seek with the OSP using his health.
A court on Monday adjourned a case involving Mr Bissue to July 4, following a request by his lawyer, claiming his client was “so unwell that he cannot stand and talk” but it has since emerged that the Mr Bissue, is well and talking and had even travelled to the Western Region.
Mr Bissue, yesterday fired back denying he was in hiding. He insisted that he is within the jurisdiction of the country. This was after the OSP had declared him wanted for failing to respond to an invitation to appear and answer questions regarding an ongoing investigation into suspected corruption within the dissolved IMCIM.
Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, has for almost a month now granted a GH¢2 million bail, following an invitation for his subsequent arrest by the OSP.
Horace Ekow Ewusi, the immediate past 1st Vice-Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Central Region, and Seth Mantey, a Journalist with Accra-based Peace FM, have also been arrested and questioned as part of the ongoing probe by the OSP.
In an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Mr Bissue, expressed his disappointment with the situation, stating that he is currently in the Western region and on his way to Accra.
“It rather unfortunate, it has gotten to this, I’m within the jurisdiction, I’m in the country, in the Western region. As we speak, I’m making my way to Accra. The Special Prosecutor and I were in court, a couple of weeks ago he wrote that he wanted to meet me on another matter. I told them I had an emergency at home, but they declined it and asked me to attend on a certain date which I couldn’t. Further to that, all we heard was an arrest warrant for me”.
Mr Bissue emphasized that he respects the law and has provided relevant information to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and National Security.
He assured that he has no intention of evading the authorities and questioned why he has been declared wanted when he has not committed any crime.
“I’m not above the law, I have always abided by the law. Already I have been to the BNI not as a suspect to provide information. I have been to the CID office, and sometimes I go in there, to do some documentation for them. I have been with the National Security and I don’t think I will run away.
“I’m not a fugitive for my photos to be advertised out there. I will go to the Special Prosecutor’s Office and provide information required of me. I know I’m innocent, I haven’t committed any crime. I haven’t done anything wrong, I haven’t sold any excavators.”
