Thomas Andy Owusu, an aide to the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, has been convicted by the Accra High Court on his own plea in connection with a corruption case linked to illegal mining.
He was the second accused in the case of ‘The Republic vs. Charles Bissue and Another’.
Andy Owusu was charged with corruption of a public officer and accepting a bribe to influence a public officer, following a 2019 documentary by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas.
The documentary titled ‘Galamsey Fraud Part One’ implicated Owusu and then-presidential staffer Charles Bissue in facilitating illegal mining licences for bribes, bypassing official procedures.
“The High Court today convicted Thomas Andy Owusu, an aide to NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi-Boasiako (popularly known as Chairman Wontumi), in a corruption case tied to illegal mining licensing.
“Owusu, the second accused in the case of The Republic v. Charles Bissue & Another, was convicted on his own plea after the Court accepted a plea agreement entered under section 71 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959). The charge was based on Corruption of a Public Officer and Accepting Bribe to Influence a Public Officer,” the OSP’s update stated.
The court has directed him to pay GH¢200,000 to the state as restitution for bribing a public officer with GH¢15,000. He has also been fined 500 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢6,000.
Providing an update on the case, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, disclosed that Andy Owusu entered into a plea bargain, which was subsequently accepted by the court under Section 71 of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
The OSP added that two additional charges initially brought against Andy Owusu, corruption of a public officer and accepting a bribe to influence a public officer have been struck out.
His trial has been scheduled for a Case Management Conference on June 10, 2025.
Read the OSP’s post below;
MAG/EB