The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has launched a nationwide enforcement campaign aimed at protecting Ghana’s major rivers and water resources from the activities of illegal miners.
Dubbed “Operation WATER SHIELD,” the initiative was announced in a press release issued on Friday, September 11, 2026, and signed by NAIMOS Spokesperson, Paa Kwesi Schandorf.
According to NAIMOS, the operation represents a move away from occasional raids towards a sustained and intelligence-driven approach to protecting critical river systems, from their source areas through downstream communities to water-treatment facilities.
Rivers targeted
The operation will focus on some of Ghana’s most vulnerable rivers, including the Birim, Ankobra, Tano, Bia, Pra and Offin, as well as affected portions of the Black and White Volta river systems.
NAIMOS said strategic source areas and upper catchments would also be prioritised, particularly where environmental degradation poses a threat to water quality downstream.
Key areas of enforcement
Working with relevant security and state institutions, NAIMOS said Operation WATER SHIELD would focus on protecting river source areas, preventing illegal miners from accessing riverbanks and waterways, dismantling mining logistics networks and disrupting the financial and criminal structures that support illegal mining.
The operation will also support the restoration of degraded water bodies and introduce continuous monitoring to ensure that areas cleared of illegal mining activities are not reoccupied.
“The ultimate objective is to substantially degrade and contain illegal mining within protected watersheds, restrict the movement of heavy equipment into critical river systems, disrupt financing and supply networks, improve water quality and restore effective control over affected river basins,” the statement said.
NAIMOS warns illegal miners
NAIMOS has cautioned that enforcement under the operation will be firm, sustained and uncompromising, while remaining within the confines of the law.
“Illegal miners operating on water bodies and riverbanks should expect their operations to be disrupted and their equipment seized, immobilised or otherwise dealt with in accordance with applicable law and established procedures.”
The Secretariat said excavators, chanfang machines, water pumps, dredging equipment and other machinery used in activities that degrade water bodies would be among the major targets of the operation.
It added that the campaign would not only focus on illegal miners but also extend to individuals and businesses that facilitate such activities.
These include facilitators, unauthorised manufacturers of chanfang machines, and persons or companies that rent out or supply excavators and other equipment for illegal mining.
NAIMOS further stated that river corridors cleared during the operation would be subjected to continuous monitoring to prevent illegal miners from returning and to support environmental restoration.
Particular attention will be given to river basins that provide water for communities, agriculture and water-treatment facilities.
Public urged to support operation
NAIMOS has called on traditional leaders, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), equipment owners, local communities and the general public to support Operation WATER SHIELD.
The Secretariat urged the public to provide credible information on illegal mining activities, as well as individuals or organisations involved in financing, facilitating or supplying equipment for illegal mining operations.
By: Prince Martey-Sogar