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A former Secretary for the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) Charles Onuawonto Bissue is urging the state investigative bodies to probe all properties the late Chief Executive Officer for the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie alias Sir John amassed since 2019.
According to Mr Bissue, claims of Francis Owusu owning a mining firm jointly with Sir John raises suspicions of some wrongful dealings that were undertaken after he resigned from the IMCIM.
He disclosed that Francis Owusu [a former staff of the IMCIM], is a beneficiary of the DML, the mining firm named in Sir John’s will.
Mr Bissue alleged that while at the IMCIM, Francis Owusu kept persuading him to acknowledge an invitation from Sir John over some “dealings” related to the operations of the IMCIM.
Despite the persuasions, Mr Bissue claims he turned down all invitations, and latter got Francis Owusu fired because of professional misconduct.
He furthered that it was strange Anas’ documentary alleging his involvement in bribery and circumvention of due process with the licensing of miners, came shortly after he had mobilized a team of journalists to assess the devastation caused by some recalcitrant miners in forest reserves across the country.
This, he suspected was a deliberate attempt by his adversaries to silence him and stain his reputation even before his report on the devastation is published.
“I never took a bribe. I was taken down for doing the right thing. That Francis Owusu, who has been named in Sir John’s will …if indeed that document is true, calls be a thorough investigation into the properties that were acquired around 2019. I was hit in 2019 February. January 2019 I took about 60 journalists across forest reserves in this country to witness the devastation caused by miners. There are drone footages and all that, just to show Ghanaians the extent of the damage so we put in measures to address it.
“He [Francis Owusu] wanted me mine in forest reserves. He kept pestering me with invitations from Sir John but I declined. Eventually I told Prof Frimpong Boateng about his misconduct. He was mobilizing galamseyers to offer me bribes anytime we lodged at Golden Tulip. He is a beneficiary of DML, the company named in Sir John’s will. Why did he form a mining company while he was at the IMCIM?” he said on Angel FM.
