Inauguration of Ghana’s National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat & Statement On Anti-galamsey Operations

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources of Ghana wishes to formally announce that, in line with the government’s commitment to addressing the menace of illegal mining (popularly known as ‘galamsey’), an effective and robust intelligence-led secretariat has been officially launched to operate as the central authority for initiating, coordinating, and supervising all anti-illegal mining operations across the country.

The secretariat, known as the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), is the result of collaboration among stakeholders across the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of the Interior, the National Security Council, and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to help combat the serious environmental threat of illegal mining.

The objective of NAIMOS is to create a well-coordinated framework to address the crackdown on illegal mining and its related harms.

In view of this integrated intelligence initiative, the Ministry wishes to emphatically state that no person, individual, or organised group is allowed to embark on any anti-illegal mining operation without consulting the duly established Secretariat, which has been formally tasked for that purpose.

For the avoidance of doubt, all anti-galamsey operations, swoops, and raids conducted without the express approval and authorisation of the Secretariat are strongly discouraged, and we urge all concerned Ghanaians to take note of this arrangement and comply accordingly. The NAIMOS team can be reached at +233 (0) 303 982 151.

On that note, the Ministry wishes to reiterate its commitment to decisively dealing with the threat of illegal mining through the range of interventions that are currently in place to clean up the environment, combat climate change, reclaim depleted lands, and restore all polluted water bodies to their pristine condition.

Thank you.

END

SIGNED

AMA MAWUSI MAWUENYEFIA

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

MINISTRY OF LANDS & NATURAL RESOURCES