The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, has condemned what he calls interference in his office’s investigation of the former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue.
Mr. Amidu stated that his office is still investigating Mr. Bissue, who he says has been cooperating, and one other over the corruption claims.
Tiger Eye PI petitioned the Special Prosecutor in February 2019 after its own investigations implicated Mr. Bissue in possible corruption at the committee.
In a documentary released by Tiger Eye PI, Mr. Bissue was seen taking money to help an unlicensed company to circumvent protocol to carry out mining operations.
After the petition, Mr. Amidu recalled that he wrote to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service after the first signs that police were investigating the case cautioning against any intrusion.
“We have indicated that we are going to begin investigations. There shouldn’t be duplicity of our efforts so they [the CID] should stop it,” he said on the Citi Breakfast Show.
He also reminded that his office was mandated to deal with alleged corruption involving politically exposed persons.
But it appears his warnings were not heeded as reports from state media, Daily Graphic indicated that the CID has exonerated Mr. Bissue of the corruption claims.
According to the Daily Graphic, a letter written by the CID to Ampofo, Oppong and Associates, lawyers for Mr Bissue, said the presidential staffer had been cleared of all corruption accusations.
The CID reportedly concluded that the footage in the documentary was not a true reflection of what transpired between Mr. Bissue and the mining company.
Mr. Amidu described this as an obstruction saying “this is not the first time this type of obstruction is happening. People choose to interfere with my corruption investigations when they think it doesn’t suit them.”
“The police know I have told them they can’t do [investigate Bissue] and the Minister of Interior knows that I have told him that for them to direct the police to do that is a political decision… Why would politicians send a case to the police when they know I am supposed to handle it.”
This comes after he complained about heads of public institutions frustrating his work in an article he released last week.
‘CID’s exoneration of Charles Bissue preposterous’
A lawyer with Tiger Eye PI, Sammy Darko, also on the Citi Breakfast Show raised concerns with the CID’s purported exoneration of Mr. Bissue.
Sammy Darko said the findings were not grounded in law.
“We have had the green light from the office of the Special Prosecutor that they are almost done. We furnished them with almost everything. We also know that Bissue and his lawyers have all been there.
“What we know is that the Special Prosecutor has come out to say that people should stop interfering in his work. So, it is surprising to even hear about this.”