The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has demolished more than 300 makeshift structures and destroyed several equipment in a three-day operation along polluted water bodies in the Western Region.

The crackdown, which began last Thursday and ended last Saturday, saw members of the NAIMOS task force work with Blue Water Guards to dismantle galamsey strongholds that had turned the Ankobra and Bonsa rivers into environmental disaster zones.

A NAIMOS source told the Daily Graphic that the operation was successful, resulting in 319 makeshift structures being burnt to the ground, 103 chanfang machines destroyed, 17 pumping machines seized, and more than 1,000 illegal miners forced to flee as the government's anti-galamsey machinery roared back to life.

Action

The raids came days after President John Dramani Mahama’s September 10 media encounter, when he reaffirmed his administration's resolve to combat illegal mining.

During the media engagement, the President emphasised that existing legal frameworks provided sufficient authority to combat galamsey effectively, rejecting calls for a state of emergency.

He revealed that his government had already repossessed nine forest reserves from illegal miners and stationed permanent military detachments to prevent further encroachment.

The President also said 440 excavators, 1,400 water pumps, and 300 chanfang machines had been seized in earlier operations, setting the stage for last week's operation.

Operation details

Explaining further, the NAIMO source said on the first day, the joint task force struck the Ashem Line community in Nzema East in the Western Region, targeting galamsey sites that were directly polluting the Ankobra River.

The results were devastating for the illegal miners: 99 makeshift structures reduced to ashes, 54 chanfangs destroyed, and critical equipment, including pumping machines, generators, and some electronic gadgets, seized.”

The source added that last Friday's operations extended to the Bonsa River in the Tarkwa Nsuem Municipality, where operatives discovered that illegal miners had actually blocked and redirected the entire river to facilitate their operations.

The task force's response, it added, was swift and comprehensive, with 15 more chanfangs destroyed, 11 pumping machines burnt, and three dredging machines dismantled.

The raid on the last day at Dwira Ashem town, the source said, delivered the most spectacular results. The NAIMOS operatives destroyed more than 200 makeshift structures, 34 chanfangs and seized everything from smartphones to fridges that formed the logistics backbone of the illegal operations in the community of more than 1,000 illegal miners.

Environmental victory

“The operations specifically targeted sites that were directly polluting Ghana's major rivers—the Ankobra, Birim, Pra, and Bonsa—which the Ghana Water Ltd has repeatedly flagged for massive contamination.

NAIMOS operatives found pipelines connected directly to river systems and dismantled sophisticated operations that had transformed flowing rivers into stagnant, polluted pools,” the source added.

The three previously immobilised excavators found at Ashem Line were further disabled to render them "totally inefficient," demonstrating the determination of the task force to ensure that the equipment cannot be easily restored for illegal use.

Road ahead

NAIMOS operations, the source said, demonstrated that the President’s preference for an intelligence-led approach to delivering tangible results spoke louder than political rhetoric.

He said the task force would continue its "relentless fight against illegal mining along Ghana's water bodies to translate presidential promises into concrete environmental action that offered hope for the restoration of the nation's polluted rivers and forests.

“The message from this week's operations is clear: the era of treating galamsey as an unstoppable menace is over,” the highly placed source said.