Executive Director of CenPOA, Michael Donyina Mensah
The Center for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), a non-partisan, non-governmental civil society organization, has petitioned the presidency, calling for Dr Hanna Bissiw-Kotei, the Administrator of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF), to be called to order.
CenPOA, in its petition, stated that Dr Bissiw-Kotei is overstepping her authority.
The NGO indicated that although it was in full support of the fight against illegal mining, the recent activities of Dr Bissiw-Kotei represent a serious overreach of her lawful mandate.
The petition, which was under the signature of Michael Donyina Mensah, the Executive Director, said: “It has come to our notice that Dr Bissiw has been personally visiting mining communities and reportedly issuing threats, carrying out arrests, and confronting individuals suspected to be engaged in illegal mining. While CenPOA is fully in support of the government’s commitment to fighting illegal mining (galamsey), we believe strongly that such actions by the Administrator of the MDF represent a serious overreach of her lawful mandate.”
The petition stressed there is nowhere in the law that grants the administrator of the MDF the authority to storm illegal mining sites and arrest illegal miners or seize their equipment.
“The Minerals Development Fund, by statute, is primarily tasked with managing and disbursing royalties to support development in mining communities. Nowhere in the law is the MDF or its leadership empowered to engage in law enforcement activities, including arrests or operational field confrontations. That responsibility squarely lies with the Minerals Commission, the Ghana Police Service, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and relevant task forces such as Operation Halt II.”
See the petition below:
