The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has vowed to sustain its campaign against illegal mining, insisting that the fight requires consistent enforcement to remove equipment and structures threatening Ghana’s water bodies.

Colonel K.S. Appiah, Director of Operations at NAIMOS, said the secretariat remained committed to dismantling illegal mining infrastructure despite the operational and logistical challenges confronting its task forces.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, October 22, 2026, he warned that abandoning enforcement efforts while mining equipment remained in rivers would worsen the environmental destruction associated with illegal mining.

“As has been mentioned on many occasions, the fight against illegal mining is a marathon, and we are poised to go through this race to ensure that we take out all illegal mining infrastructure on our river bodies,” he said.

Colonel Appiah acknowledged that removing heavy machinery and makeshift structures from rivers was difficult, particularly in areas with poor road access and limited space for trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles.

He explained that the challenges sometimes forced task force personnel to dismantle or burn makeshift mining platforms and chanfangs—equipment used in illegal mining operations—because transporting them out of the water was often impractical.

“It is very difficult to move them out of the rivers because road access and access for trucks to the areas are almost impossible. So, we need to destroy and burn them, and later, in coordination with the GSDC, which has the capability to lift them from the river bodies,” he said.

Despite the difficulties, Colonel Appiah maintained that NAIMOS would continue its operations to remove illegal mining infrastructure from Ghana’s rivers.

He said the sustained campaign was necessary to protect the country’s water bodies and prevent further environmental degradation caused by illegal mining.