Correspondence from the Western Region

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has pledged to fight illegal mining with integrity, stating that he would rather die fighting with integrity than be corrupted in the fight against galamsey.

Armah-Kofi Buah made the pledge on Thursday, September 3, 2026, when he paid a working visit to the Ankobra River in the Western Region to assess the impact of Operation Water Shield, being carried out by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and the Navy Special Forces.

“If you had visited this Ankobra River in the last one year, the whole river was a workshop where the chanfan machines were being manufactured left and right all over the river body. But today, I can tell you, through all the miles we have covered, Ankobra is cleared of chanfan machines,” he said.

He said the operation had so far resulted in the removal of close to 3,000 chanfan machines from the Ankobra and other rivers, including the Offin, adding that several arrests had been made, including those of foreign nationals.

“Today I can tell you that through all the mileage we have covered, the Ankobra is completely cleared of chanfan machines, cleared of other makeshift structures and other equipment,” the Minister stated.

According to him, the results clearly show that the country is turning the corner in the fight against illegal mining, attributing the progress to a shift towards more intelligence-led and deliberate operations with permanent deployments.

“We have shifted from sporadic raids to permanent deployment, and it is actually showing this result. I think that if you have followed this difficult work in the last one and a half years, you will not be sitting on any TV in Accra talking that we are not making any progress,” he stressed.

Armah-Kofi Buah, however, acknowledged that the fight was not yet over, saying the government had not reached its ultimate goal of restoring the river to its natural state.

“We have not gotten to where we want to see the river blue, but we have made great progress. We have cleared all the chanfans on the river and those with welding guns,” he said.

He commended the Commander of NAIMOS, Col. Kwame Sam Appiah, and his team for their collaboration with the Special Forces, stating that the nation was proud of their work.

He added that President John Dramani Mahama was very interested in the operation and was rooting for the team to succeed.

The Minister said he was also encouraged by the shift in approach, noting that many young men who were engaged in illegal mining on the river last year had been moved into cooperative mining and enrolled in the responsible small-scale mining programme through training and capacity building.

“We have combined training, building capacity and basically showing a lot of young people that there is a better way of looking for gold. You can look for gold without destroying our water bodies and our forests,” he said.

He reiterated his commitment to fighting illegal mining with integrity, noting that the road ahead required dedication and strong principles.

He said he had repeatedly stated that he would choose to fight with integrity and die rather than become corrupted in a dangerous fight that could ultimately destroy the country.

Armah-Kofi Buah said the next phase of the fight would target the powerful forces operating behind the scenes, including sponsors and financiers linked to the machines and excavators destroyed or seized during the operations.

“The machines we destroyed, the excavators we seized, those behind them are powerful forces that are hiding in the dark, and our next phase is to continue to fish them out. We are going to continue to fight all the way—those sponsors, those financiers—until we win this fight,” he pledged.

He expressed confidence that the people of Ghana supported the government’s efforts and called for continued dedication to protect the gains made on the Ankobra and other water bodies.

The NAIMOS Director assured the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources that he and his team would continue the fight against illegal mining in Ghana.

He also commended the Blue Water Guards for their support.