Thomas Andy Owusu, an aide to Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako (popularly known as Chairman Wontumi), has been convicted of corruption by the High Court this morning in connection with the Republic v Charles Bissue case.
Mr. Owusu, the second accused in the matter, was convicted on his plea after entering into a plea bargain with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
He was charged with bribery stemming from the Galamsey Fraud Part One exposé by investigative outfit Tiger Eye PI.
The exposé, released in 2019, implicated Owusu and then-presidential staffer Charles Bissue in a scheme to circumvent mining licensing procedures in exchange for bribes. According to prosecutors, Mr. Owusu paid GH₵15,000 to Mr. Bissue to facilitate the unlawful issuance of mining permits.
The High Court accepted the plea deal and sentenced Mr. Owusu to pay five hundred penalty units, amounting to GH₵6,000, and ordered him to pay GH₵200,000 in restitution to the state.
As part of the agreement, Mr. Owusu’s name has been withdrawn from charges of corruption of a public officer and accepting bribes to influence a public officer.
With Owusu’s conviction secured, the state is now shifting its full attention to the prosecution of Charles Bissue, the former Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), who is alleged to have received the bribe.
Source: Citinewsroom.com