The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has filed 15 criminal charges against Charles Bissue, former Secretary of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), and his alleged accomplice, Andy Thomas Owusu, for corruption and abuse of public office in a mining licensing scandal involving GHC35,000.

The charges, filed at the High Court (Criminal Division) in Accra on April 28, allege that between January and February 2019, Mr Bissue, while serving as IMCIM Secretary, corruptly accepted bribes totaling GHC35,000 from one Benjamin Adjapong, directly and through Owusu, to fast-track the renewal of an expired mining license for ORR Resources Enterprise without proper documentation.

Read also: Human Rights Court throws out Charles Bissue's charge against OSP The charges include multiple counts against both accused.

Bissue faces nine counts, including Using Public Office for Profit under Section 179C(a) of Act 29 for receiving GHC15,000 on January 22, GHC10,000 on January 30, and another GHC10,000 on February 8 to bypass IMCIM vetting processes.