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Investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, has insisted that its 2019 documentary dubbed “galamsey fraud part 1” was nothing but the true representation of what transpired.
In a statement dated October 7, the owner of Tiger Eye PI said the documentary which implicated former secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue, was carried out on “truth, facts and audio-evidence”.
Any claim that runs contrary to what the company said was without merit as Charles Bissue was caught engaged in bribery and corruption.
“Tiger Eye’s position, conduct and approach to all investigations are based on truth, facts and audio-visual evidence. Tiger Eye affirms and maintains its investigations and conclusion on the Galamsey Fraud documentary about Mr. Charles Bissue and other staff at the dissolved IMCIM. Any claims or allegations to the contrary are false and without merit.
“Mr. Charles Bissue engaged in bribery and corruption and Tiger Eye uncovered this in the form of audio-visual evidence when undercover journalists posed as owners of an abandoned mining company,” part of the statement read.
Anas further refuted Charles Bissue’s claim that agents of Tiger Eye P.I demanded payment of monies in order not to air the documentary.
He maintained that it was a “figment of his imagination” for him to think that monies would be collected to sweep the documentary under the carpet to avoid his disgrace when it has already been advertised.
Anas said such claims were the new order of persons who are caught in undercover investigation works – a deviation from the hitherto ‘entrapment’ mantra.
“Allegations by Mr. Bissue that agents of Tiger Eye P.I solicited monies from him to drop the investigative piece as merely an afterthought and a figment of his imagination. It is part of the recent mantra by persons caught in undercover investigations to say it was published to disgrace them after they failed to pay monies. The old mantra was ‘entrapment’.
“None of these persons filmed engaged in bribery and corruption has ever been able to prove such allegations nor won any Court case confirming such fake claims.
“It defies logic and exposes the incoherence in Mr. Charles Bissue’s narrative, that, Tiger Eye would demand bribes to drop a story it had advertised long before.
“Tiger Eye set out to expose heavyweights who dabbled in the illicit galamsey trade on the back of our firm conviction that nobody should be allowed to profit from the devastation of our environment and to augment the President, Nana Akufo-Addo’s commitment to fighting the menace,” the statement added.
Charles Bissue who was caught red-handed receiving a bribe in the Anas’ galamsey exposé has consistently denied wrongdoing.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi FM 2021, Charles Bissue said he was set up by members of the Tiger Eye P.I
“There was nothing like corruption. Somebody manufactured it because he wanted to go into illegal mining, which I stopped,” he said.
He was cleared of all charges of corruption by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service in 2019.
Following rigorous investigations, the CID came to the conclusion in a final report that Mr. Bissue did not violate the IMCIM’s established protocols in order to favour ORR Resource Enterprise, the organisation at the centre of the incident.
Ghana has been waging war on the activities of illegal miners, however, it is widely believed that the fight has not yielded the desired results.
The discoloured nature of water bodies as well as general environmental degradation has been used as a testament to the failed fight.
President Akufo-Addo on October 5 met with the National House Chiefs and the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to court their support for the fight against galamsey.
He admitted that despite putting his presidency on the line in 2017 for the fight, it has not yielded the desired results.
President Akufo-Addo has been accused by the opposition National Democratic Congress of shielding party members such as Charles Bissue and NPP Ashanti regional chairman, Bernard Antwi Boasiako (Chairman Wontumi).
