Accra, Ghana – The High Court has convicted Thomas Andy Owusu on corruption-related offenses linked to illegal mining, following a plea agreement accepted by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). Owusu was charged alongside Charles Bissue, the former Secretary of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining.
The court ordered Owusu to pay a fine of GH¢6,000 and an additional GH¢200,000 as restitution to the state. The plea agreement specified that Owusu would pay 500 penalty units and the GH¢200,000 restitution for bribing a public officer with GH¢15,000. Following this conviction, the court struck out two other charges against him: Corruption of a Public Officer and Accepting Bribe to Influence a Public Officer.
Owusu and Bissue were initially facing 15 counts of corruption by a public officer and using public office for personal benefit, contrary to section 179C(b) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). Owusu was specifically accused of facilitating payments to Bissue. The OSP alleges that Bissue used his position to collect GH¢35,000 from Benjamin Adjapong to bypass official requirements for mining license renewals.
The criminal proceedings against the two stemmed from a 2019 investigation by Tiger Eye PI, which purportedly implicated them in facilitating illegal mining licenses through bribery. With Owusu’s conviction, the trial of Charles Bissue is set to continue at the High Court on June 10 with a Case Management Conference.
Sankofaonline
