Hearing of Charles Bissue’s suit against Special Prosecutor deferred

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The High Court has postponed its hearing of an injunction application brought by Charles Bissue, a former Presidential Staffer and one-time Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.

This writ is to stop the Special Prosecutor from prosecuting him on the grounds that he was already set free by the Police.

Instead, the court will first hear Mr Bissue’s application for discoveries, which is due to take place on June 12th, 2023.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor strongly opposed this decision, yet the court ruled in favor of Mr Bissue, who has yet to be served with the affidavit from the OSP.

Background

In December 2022, the former Secretary of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) wanted the court to prevent the Office of the Special Prosecutor from investigating him.

Charles Bissue secured an injunction at an Accra High Court seeking to do so.

On October 10, Special Prosecutor Kissi Agyebeng started investigating some public officials over their alleged involvement in illegal mining (galamsey).

The investigation targeted some officials of the Lands Ministry, the Forestry Commission, and the dissolved Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM).

The OSP said the inquiry will also span allegations of use of public office for profit against Charles Bissue during his tenure as secretary to the IMCIM.

This is based on an investigative documentary by Tiger Eye P.I.