The Director of Operations at the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), Col. Dominic Buah, has stressed that while mining remains an integral part of Ghana’s economy, urgent measures must be taken to eliminate the environmental and health risks associated with illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Speaking at the NAIMOS Editors’ Forum and quarterly press briefing held in Accra on Wednesday, March 25, Col. Buah maintained that halting mining activities altogether is neither realistic nor desirable.

“If anybody told you that you can stop mining in Ghana, well, I don't believe it. Mining, as his excellency the president keeps saying, will go on,” he stated.

He, however, emphasised that the focus must shift towards ensuring sustainable mining practices that safeguard public health and the environment.

“However, it's the sustainability that we are looking at. The health impact and the risk of the Galamsey must be stopped. So we're looking at the sustainability of mining,” he added.

Col. Buah outlined what he described as the three key pillars guiding NAIMOS’ operations: prevention, restoration, and sustainability of mining activities. According to him, these pillars are critical in addressing the long-standing challenges posed by illegal mining across the country.

He further revealed that a major challenge identified by stakeholders in previous anti-galamsey efforts was the lack of effective coordination among institutions.

“Coordination appeared to be lacking, even though all the previous initiatives had good intentions and purposes. They are all geared towards addressing them. But because we didn't have clear coordination, everybody, every institution, was doing their own thing,” he explained.

The absence of a unified approach, he noted, led to inefficiencies, including duplication of efforts and poor resource allocation.

“And therefore, when this happens, you realise that we cannot control the allocation of resources. Then, we cannot point at a target. There will be duplication of effort,” he said.

Col. Buah indicated that the establishment of NAIMOS was a direct response to these challenges, providing a central coordinating body to streamline anti-illegal mining operations nationwide.

“So the committee recommended that there should be a coordinating body. And that coordinating body, fortunately, gave rise to what we have today as NAIMOS, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat, which I am humbled and proud to be the director of operations, " he noted.

Reflecting on the Secretariat’s performance since its establishment, Col. Buah disclosed that NAIMOS has been operational for just over ten months and has already recorded significant progress.

“We have operated for a little over 10 months. And I can tell you that NAIMOS has shown enormous success. But I cannot assess myself, or we cannot assess ourselves,” he said.

He underscored the importance of engaging the media as key stakeholders in evaluating the Secretariat’s work and shaping future strategies.

“You are the mouthpiece of Ghana. You are the observers. You are the reporter. It's appropriate that we frequently engage you so that we learn from you, you review the progress made, we make you aware of what we are doing, and then you can give us your guidance for the way forward,” he stated.

Col. Buah said the forum was intended to foster collaboration between NAIMOS and the media in assessing ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining and to chart a sustainable path forward.

“So that is our aim this morning, for us to collectively assess the operations of NAIMOS in addressing our collective challenge and the way forward,” he concluded.