BY Nadia Ntiamoah
The fight against illegal mining in Ghana is facing an unexpected adversary: the very leaders expected to support it.
The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has raised serious concerns over persistent interference from influential figures—including local chiefs and politicians—that threatens to derail efforts to curb galamsey, the illicit small-scale gold mining that has ravaged the rivers and forests, creating health challenge.
Addressing a high-level stakeholder meeting in Sekondi on Sunday, December 7, Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Satekla, Deputy Director of Operations at NAIMOS, described interference from powerful individuals as one of the secretariat’s “biggest operational challenges.”
“Every institution has challenges, and we are no exception,” Lt. Col. Satekla told 14 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the Western Region, along with two Regional Police Commanders.
“We encounter interference from politicians, chiefs, and other stakeholders in areas where we operate, and it is a big problem that must be addressed. Another critical challenge is logistics.”
NAIMOS’s concerns highlight a long-standing pattern in which political influence and traditional authority intersect with illegal mining activities.
In many hotspots across the Western, Eastern, and Ashanti Regions, local operators often resume illegal mining shortly after enforcement teams withdraw, sometimes with the tacit support—or deliberate obstruction—of influential community figures.
Already some bigwigs of the ruling National Democratic Congress have been caught in the galamsey web which the government has failed to act.
In recent weeks, NAIMOS has intensified its operations across multiple regions.
On 8 December 2025, the task force conducted coordinated raids along the Akyem Oda corridor in the Eastern Region, targeting illegal sites in Atiwa West and Birim Central Municipalities.
Heavy-duty equipment, including four excavators and five gold-washing machines, were seized or disabled, while massive water-filled pits covering more than four acres were documented, highlighting extensive environmental damage.
The same day in the Ashanti Region, NAIMOS intervened at cocoa plantations in Adanse Anomabo, Adansi North District, where galamseyers had caused extensive destruction.
Six excavators were immobilized, makeshift hideouts demolished, and weapons—including a pump-action gun with seven cartridges—were seized. The operation underscored the dual threat illegal miners pose to both the environment and local livelihoods.
In the Western Region, NAIMOS also arrested two Chinese nationals conducting illegal mining along the Subri River at Bekwai Subrisu.
Their operations had severely polluted the river, destroying aquatic ecosystems and endangering local communities’ access to water. Heavy-duty water pumps were destroyed, and the suspects were handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service for further action.
Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson, speaking at the Sekondi meeting, reiterated the government’s commitment to eradicating galamsey and urged MMDCEs to fully support President John Dramani Mahama’s campaign.
Yet, Lt. Col. Satekla’s warnings point to a deeper structural problem: without cooperation from traditional authorities and political leaders, enforcement efforts risk being continuously undermined.
Environmental experts and anti-mining advocates argue that the interference from chiefs and politicians is not merely anecdotal.
Over the years, galamsey has persisted largely due to local complicity, with influential figures sometimes providing protection or turning a blind eye in exchange for financial or political gain.
This dynamic complicates NAIMOS’s mandate, which requires not only technical capacity and logistics but also local buy-in to create lasting impact.
NAIMOS has vowed to maintain relentless pressure on illegal mining operations, emphasizing that the fight is far from over.
The Secretariat’s field teams remain deployed nationwide, prioritizing hotspots along critical rivers and ecologically sensitive forests, such as the Birim, Ayensu, and Subri river systems.
Officials warn that unless interference is checked and local authorities fully commit to enforcement, the environmental and public health crises linked to galamsey could worsen.
