People plotted against me for fighting galamsey – Charles Bissue on ‘Galamsey Fraud’

• Mr Bissue has once again denied engaging in fraud during his days as Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

• He says some individuals who felt threatened by his work plotted to get him out in order to pursue their exploits in galamsey.

• However failed to name the said individuals despite saying he know who they are.

The government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has initiated what has become its second effort to fight against illegal mining activities in the country.

Despite the government touting the initial Operation Vanguard as largely successful, the public’s idea seems to go on a different tangent especially with the ‘Galamsey Fraud’ expose released by ace investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyew Anas, that indicted several government officials as being involved in fraud and galamsey activities.

One of such individuals who was indicted by the Anas video was the former Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue.

But in a recent interview with Kwame Nkrumah Tikese of Okay FM, Charles Bissue who has since denied being guilty of any involvement in illegality, stated that his work on the Committee meant to stop galamsey courted him highly resourced enemies whose hatred for him translated into a setup plot.

According to Charles Bissue, the said individuals he refused to name, plotted the allegation of fraud to discredit him and get “him off their backs”.

“That committee the president constituted became ‘nauseous’ to those that were exploiting the system. So, my appointment to the committee and the work we did, denied them of that opportunity. So, all they could do was plot something scandalous to discredit me.

“What I can say for now just not to prejudice the report yet to be produced by the OSP is that; I did no such thing while in office.”

He indicated his full knowledge of the individuals involved in the plot.

“I know those behind that plot. I know all of them from day one. But I am not the type who will make noise about it. Yes, I might have been that sacrificial lamb but I know I am clean. Today, I still see those people… I greet them when we meet. We chat and all that.

“Kennedy Agyapong is reported to have said he knew some of them too. So, it’s not lies being told to cover up. There are many who have intelligence on these people. I know everything,” he added.

The IMCIM was instituted by President Akufo-Addo to undertake surveillance at mining concessions across the country while enhancing the work of state regulatory authorities in the value chain. The committee through innovation initiated operation Galamstop; in which all mining equipment was to have GPS tracking systems implanted and mapped to concessions.

However, the Anas exposé which alleged fraud on the part of some members of the Committee including Charles Bisue rendered their work questionable.

This development eventually led to the president dissolving the entire Committee while investigations were initiated into the workings of the Committee and the Anas exposé.

Commenting on the allegations and his work on the Committee, Charles Bissue in his interview on Okay FM stated that "we had the technology. All concessions were mapped out to the equipment so with our geofencing technology we could easily tell when a miner is trespassing.

‘But I tell you, our own people…ordinary Ghanaians are the problem. It isn’t a matter of NPP or NDC,” he emphasized.

Listen to Mr Bissue’s interview below: