In a major breakthrough for anti-corruption efforts in the mining sector, the High Court has convicted Thomas Andy Owusu, an aide to Ashanti Regional NPP Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi), in a landmark case stemming from the 2019 Galamsey Fraud exposé.
Owusu, the second accused in The Republic v. Charles Bissue & Another, entered a guilty plea after negotiating a plea bargain with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP). His conviction marks a critical milestone in the wider investigation into high-level corruption linked to illegal mining activities.
The court fined Owusu GHS6,000 and ordered him to pay GHS200,000 in restitution for bribing then-presidential staffer Charles Bissue with GHS15,000 to facilitate illegal mining permits. As part of the plea deal, two additional charges were dropped.
With Owusu’s conviction now secured, legal and public attention has shifted to Charles Bissue, the former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), whose trial resumes on June 10, 2025.
Meanwhile, Bissue is also entangled in a separate legal battle with the OSP over claims of an unlawful arrest warrant. In a twist, the Supreme Court has ordered that a 2023 radio interview with the Special Prosecutor—central to Bissue’s claims—be played in court, reopening the dispute at the Human Rights Court and allowing the OSP to cross-examine Bissue’s lawyer.
The unfolding saga signals the intensification of the state’s resolve to hold politically connected individuals accountable in the fight against galamsey-related corruption.
