Photo: Dr Hannah Bissiw in a post-operation interview with the press
Who authorised her rogue raids and duplication of mandates?
If the fight against illegal mining is truly a national emergency, then it must be waged with discipline, law, and strategy, not personal crusades. So here’s the pressing question: On what legal or operational basis is Dr. Hannah Bissiw-Kotei, Administrator of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF), staging raids on galamsey sites?
Let’s be clear. The Minerals Development Fund was created under Act 912 by Parliament in 2016 to provide predictable and targeted financial support to institutions and communities affected by mining. The Fund’s remit is financial — not operational — and definitely not law enforcement.
Nowhere in its mandate does it mention field operations or swoops on illegal mining pits. That responsibility is already vested in a nationally recognized body — The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) — which brings together the Ministries of Defence, Interior, National Security, the Narcotics Control Commission, the National Intelligence Bureau, and crucially, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources itself, under which the MDF operates.
Yet, Dr. Bissiw has — without a shred of legal mandate — mobilised resources to pursue galamsey combat operations. Why? Who authorised this? Where is the line between assertive leadership and administrative anarchy?
Rogue Moves and Red Flags
This isn’t the first time Dr. Bissiw’s conduct has raised serious concerns:
• Snubbing Oversight: Despite repeated invitations from the Ministry, she has refused to attend meetings convened to align strategies and clarify coordination. If she won’t be accountable to the very Ministry she works under, who is she answering to?
• Undermining Deputies and Protocols: She has consistently frustrated the Deputy Administrator — a presidential appointee — by sidelining him and proposing a shadow operational structure. Worse still, she unilaterally removed the Ministry’s Financial Controller as a signatory to the MDF accounts — an audacious move that raises red flags about financial transparency.
• Duplication and Confusion: MDF’s decision to partner with AngloGold Ashanti and GIZ to train youth in artisanal mining without involving the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP) — which already runs a similar programme — is wasteful and chaotic. This duplication not only shows disregard for institutional coordination but also exposes the government to reputational and financial risk.
A Dangerous Precedent
At the heart of all this is a troubling pattern: an official ignoring legal boundaries, bypassing oversight, and turning a statutory fund into a personal operations unit. This is not just bad leadership; it’s a threat to good governance.
Dr. Bissiw is not a Minister. She is not a law enforcement officer. She is the Administrator of a fund, not a commander of field forces.
If every agency boss were to replicate this lawlessness, the entire machinery of government would descend into chaos. The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources must act swiftly. Parliament must ask tough questions. And the National Council must demand accountability.
Because if Hannah Bissiw’s version of the galamsey fight is allowed to stand, then what stops the Forestry Commission from setting up its own police force? Or the Tourism Authority for launching arrests over littering?
This is not how serious governments operate.
The rule of law must prevail. The MDF must return to its lane. And Dr. Bissiw must be held to account.
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