Former Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Charles Bissue, says he is ever ready to cooperate with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and any other government institution to investigate allegations of corrupt practices by certain public officials and others cited in the report of the work of the IMCIM.
According to him, any investigation into the alleged corrupt practices by officials of the IMCIM and other ‘big men’ in the illicit gold trade is welcome and will inure to the benefit of the country.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, he said “I am ever ready to cooperate so long as it is in the interest of the country. You see that statement in there, the CID should have that report and then the NIB should have that report. I think this will inure to the benefit of this country. So I’m ever ready wherever I’m called to go to.”
His comment comes on the back of a petition submitted to CHRAJ by South Dayi MP, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, to investigate violations of fundamental human rights, alleged corrupt practices, issues of conflict of interest and abuse of public office by certain public officials and others cited in the report of the work of the IMCIM.
The petition filed by lawyers for the MP also wants CHRAJ to investigate allegations of corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of office made by Charles Bissue, the former secretary of the IMCIM, against Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the former chairman of the IMCIM, in respect of matters involving some 500 excavators that supposedly went missing around February 2020.
Meanwhile, Charles Bissue has called on Ghanaians to change their attitude towards anti-corruption crusades.
According to him, the country’s reluctance to pursue and prosecute ‘big men’ who break the law will render the outcome of any investigation carried out on the IMCIM scandal moot.
“If you and I do not change our attitudes, we may not get the results. Because it’s going to come out, there’s going to be a report, there’s going to be a recommendation and that person or those people who are supposed to ensure that that recommendation is met will be compromised somewhere, they’ll have friends in there, cronies and all that and so it will not see the light of day.”