Ghana’s National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat has arrested 13 suspected illegal miners. The raid took place at Subin Akwaaboso in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region. The task force seized several Chanfang machines. The equipment was allegedly being used to mine on the Offin River. The operation formed part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal mining.
Ghana’s galamsey crisis has contaminated rivers and destroyed farmland for over a decade. Successive governments have launched task forces, deployed the military and imposed moratoria. Each intervention has produced arrests and seizures. Each has failed to end the practice. In 2024, the government declared a state of emergency on water pollution. In 2025, it created NAIMOS. The political will has been intermittent. The economic incentive for illegal mining has not diminished, and gold prices have risen.
Residents mobilised on motorcycles during the raid. NAIMOS said some carried weapons in an attempt to resist the operation. Gunshots were heard. The Operations Director, Colonel Kwame Sam Appiah, said the task force deployed measures to contain the situation after some miners attempted to retaliate with firearms. The raid followed three days of similar operations in the Western North Region. The task force did not say whether anyone was injured. It did not confirm whether the seized machines were destroyed. The suspects have not been charged publicly.
The Offin River is a tributary of the Pra. Both have been heavily polluted by mining. Communities along their banks depend on the water. The Chanfang machines sit in the riverbed and churn sediment. That releases mercury and cyanide into the water supply. The damage is cumulative and often irreversible.
Winners: NAIMOS, which demonstrated enforcement. The 13 arrested, if due process follows. Communities downstream, if the river recovers. The state, which showed action. Losers: The miners, who lost machines and freedom. The financiers behind them, who remain unnamed. Communities dependent on mining income. The environment, which has already suffered. The task force, if the operation is a one-off.
Bottom Line: Thirteen arrests and a few machines do not end galamsey. The trade survives because the gold is valuable and enforcement is episodic. Ghana must decide whether it is fighting a war or conducting raids. Until that changes, the Offin will keep running brown.