Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to “bring to book” officials at the presidency caught on camera “indulging in acts of malfeasance and receiving illicit monetary consideration” in the latest exposé on illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey) by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

Secretary to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Mr Charles Cromwell Nanabanyin Onuawonto Bissue was captured on video allegedly taking a bribe.

According to Anas, Mr Bissue took a GHS35,000 bribe to help a make-believe mining firm ORR Resource Enterprise, circumvent all the necessary protocols pertaining to small-scale mining following the lifting of the ban imposed on such mining by the government.

Following the exposé, Mr Bissue has voluntarily decided to step aside for investigations to be conducted into the allegations against him but has denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement, the embattled former secretary to the IMCIM said: “In the interest of transparency and accountability, and so as not to compromise the work of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), I have informed the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chairperson of the IMCIM, of my decision to step aside from my position as Secretary to the Committee, pending an investigation into the allegations”.

Other officials at the IMCIM and some security personnel at the presidency were also caught on camera allegedly taking bribes to offer protection to the illegal miners.

The government has requested the raw unedited tapes from Anas to help them probe the matter.

Commenting on the development, Mr Mahama, in a Facebook post, urged Nana Akufo-Addo to apply his “Anas Principle” and name and shame his officials caught in the corrupt act.

Mr Mahama’s post read: “The investigative exposé by Tiger Eye PI about officials at the Presidency aiding illegal small-scale mining, ‘galamsey’, in Ghana, is an example of what our President Nana Akufo-Addo described in the attached video as the Anas principle.



“Despite all the efforts by the NPP and the government apparatchiks to distract the nation's attention from the premiere of the video last week, the evidence still stares us in the face.

“The President should bring to book and sanction these people that we clearly see in the Anas video indulging in acts of malfeasance and receiving illicit monetary consideration.

“He should let his belief in the Anas principle show by taking action. Action speaks louder than words.

“And while you are at it, let me respectfully inform you, sir, that Anas and his team have never felt more persecuted and threatened for the work that they do, than under your administration.”