Trobu Member of Parliament (MP) Gloria Owusu has alleged that the Administrator of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF), Dr. Hannah Louisa Bissiw-Kotei, may be complicit in the alleged disappearance of 33 seized excavators.
Dr. Bissiw-Kotei, who also serves as the National Women’s Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), recently revealed that 33 out of 40 excavators seized during an anti-galamsey operation had gone missing.
According to her, the machines were initially left at the illegal mining sites due to the absence of lowbed trucks for transportation. However, upon returning the next day, only seven machines remained.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, MP Gloria Owusu questioned the credibility of that account, claiming that there are widespread allegations suggesting Dr. Bissiw-Kotei facilitates the release of the seized excavators to their owners in exchange for bribes.
“How is it that Hannah Bissiw will go and seize excavators, and then within 24 hours, she will come and tell us 33 are missing? The allegation is that she takes GH¢200,000 from the excavator owners and releases them,” the lawmaker claimed.
Calls are growing for a full-scale investigation into the matter as public concern mounts over accountability in the fight against illegal mining.
Source: Gertrude Otchere
