A Ghanaian living in London has expressed anger at the presence of embattled presidential staffer Mr Charles Bissue at a Diaspora Town Hall Meeting in London organised by Ghana’s Ministry of Information.
Mr Bissue, who was the secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), was caught in an undercover documentary accepting cash gifts to allow an unlicensed mining company to operate.
He has stepped aside to allow the authorities to probe the exposé, which captured fraud in the small-scale mining sector.
An outraged questioner at the town hall meeting in London was shocked to see Mr Bissue at the London event and demanded answers.
The questioner quizzed: “To Mr Deputy Attorney General, you made mention of various corruption issues that are being prosecuted. We are aware that recently Anas Aremeyaw Anas came out with a documentary involving one gentleman here taking cash gift when he was entrusted to work towards the elimination of galamsey and now I want you to tell me what specific measures have been done about that gentleman, too, Mr Bissue. And he is here sitting with us; is he here with our tax money, with you as government delegation or he came on his own?”
In a response, a Deputy Minister of Information, Mr Pius Hadzide, said: “It’s our understanding that the gentleman one of the questioners referred to has been a long-standing member of this Ghanaian community here in the UK and he is here today again as an independent Ghanaian to participate in the programme and he is not part of the government delegation.”
Meanwhile, Mr Bissue has offered the following explanation for his presence at the meeting in the following write-up:
“I lived in the UK for close to 20 years all my kids are in the UK.
“I had all my tertiary education in the UK.
“I sought permission from the Chief of Staff to come and meet my PhD supervisor on mining reforms in Ghana (which is privately funded) and as well see my kids.
“I was not a member of the government’s entourage; I went to the programme as a Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party.”
Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com
