Story By: Nii Okpoti Odamtten &Mohammed Faisal Mustapha….
Deep within Ghana’s Western Region, where dense forests once sheltered thriving ecosystems and crystal clear rivers sustained generations of farming and fishing communities, a different landscape now emerges. Vast craters scar the earth, rivers run brown with sediment, and entire stretches of forest have been transformed into industrial wastelands by illegal mining activities known locally as galamsey.
In response to this growing environmental emergency, the National Anti Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) launched one of its most intensive enforcement operations to date, conducting a five day campaign across the Wassa Amenfi Central District between May 23 and May 27, 2026.
The operation targeted five communities Dominase, Jedua, Ankasie, Agona and Kwaben where illegal mining activities had reached alarming proportions and posed serious threats to public safety, environmental sustainability and local livelihoods.
What investigators encountered was not merely evidence of small scale unlawful extraction. Instead, officials described a sophisticated and deeply entrenched network of mining operations capable of causing widespread ecological destruction on an industrial scale.
Over the course of five days, taskforce personnel dismantled more than ninety changfan processing machines, immobilized multiple excavators, seized firearms and ammunition, and destroyed infrastructure supporting illegal mining activities.
Yet beyond the machinery and arrests, the operation exposed something even more troubling: a rapidly expanding environmental crisis unfolding in some of Ghana’s most important forest and river systems.
The campaign commenced in Dominase on May 23, where operatives encountered over one hundred individuals actively engaged in illegal mining activities within heavily degraded forest lands.
Officials reported extensive excavation across the landscape, with deep pits scattered throughout the area. Many of these excavations had been abandoned without rehabilitation, creating dangerous hazards for nearby residents, particularly children and livestock.
As enforcement teams approached, operators fled the scene. Three excavators were immobilized, twenty five changfan machines destroyed, several processing engines burned, and various items of mining equipment seized.
According to field reports, the scale of environmental degradation in Dominase demonstrated how years of unchecked extraction can fundamentally alter natural landscapes and undermine community safety.
The following day, the operation shifted to Jedua, where illegal miners had reportedly encroached upon a legally licensed mining concession belonging to Minev Company.
Investigators discovered evidence of extensive mining activity involving excavators and processing equipment. Although operators escaped before enforcement teams arrived, officials proceeded to dismantle operational infrastructure and disable heavy machinery found at the site.
Sources familiar with activities in the district indicated that enforcement agencies may continue investigations into individuals suspected of financing and coordinating large scale illegal mining operations within the area.
The operation reached a particularly critical phase on May 25 when taskforce personnel entered Ankasie, a community where environmental destruction appeared among the most severe encountered during the campaign.
Forest cover had largely disappeared. Heavy excavators had stripped away topsoil and carved deep trenches through the landscape, leaving behind a maze of flooded pits created by seasonal rainfall.
These water filled cavities now pose a significant danger to surrounding communities. Unmarked, unfenced and often hidden beneath vegetation, they have effectively become accidental reservoirs and potential death traps.
During a search of structures supporting mining operations in Ankasie, authorities recovered two pump action firearms and fourteen rounds of live ammunition, highlighting growing concerns about the security dimensions of illegal mining networks.
More than thirty changfan machines were destroyed at the site, along with several processing engines and temporary operational structures.
On May 26, the taskforce moved into Agona, where officials encountered another heavily disturbed landscape characterized by deep excavations and widespread environmental degradation.
Although excavators had reportedly been removed before the taskforce’s arrival, enforcement teams destroyed more than twenty processing machines and dismantled supporting infrastructure linked to ongoing mining activities.
By the time operations reached Kwaben on May 27, taskforce personnel had already documented a pattern of environmental destruction stretching across multiple communities within the district.
Kwaben, however, presented perhaps the most alarming evidence of ecological harm. Here, investigators found extensive pollution affecting both the Samire and Tano rivers, two vital water bodies supporting communities throughout the region.
Mining operations had established washing platforms directly along riverbanks, while pumping systems continuously extracted river water for mineral processing before discharging contaminated wastewater back into the same waterways.
Officials described the process as a self perpetuating cycle of pollution, steadily increasing sediment loads and reducing water quality while threatening aquatic ecosystems and downstream users.
In response, the taskforce dismantled pumping systems, destroyed water conveyance equipment and removed structures facilitating direct contamination of the rivers.
The broader environmental picture emerging from Wassa Amenfi Central is deeply concerning. Forests have been stripped of vegetation, waterways contaminated, natural drainage systems disrupted and biodiversity placed under increasing pressure.
Environmental experts warn that such damage carries consequences extending far beyond the immediate mining zones. Polluted rivers affect drinking water supplies, degraded forests weaken climate resilience, and abandoned pits create long term public safety risks.
The burden of these impacts falls disproportionately on ordinary citizens. Farmers lose productive land, fisherfolk watch aquatic habitats decline, and rural families face growing uncertainty regarding access to safe water and sustainable livelihoods.
For NAIMOS, the five day operation represents more than a law enforcement exercise. It signals a broader effort to reclaim vulnerable landscapes from criminal exploitation and reassert state authority in areas increasingly dominated by illegal extractive activities.
Whether these enforcement actions ultimately succeed will depend on sustained political commitment, effective prosecutions, environmental restoration and community participation. What is already clear, however, is that the battle against galamsey has become one of the defining environmental struggles of modern Ghana a contest not merely for gold, but for the future of the nation’s rivers, forests and communities.
