The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has launched Operation WATER SHIELD, a sustained intelligence-led campaign designed to protect Ghana’s major rivers, watersheds and water resources from illegal mining.
The operation marks a shift from isolated enforcement raids to a coordinated campaign covering priority river systems from source areas through downstream communities and water-treatment facilities. NAIMOS says the initiative will concentrate on the Birim, Ankobra, Tano, Bia, Pra and Offin Rivers, alongside affected sections of the Black and White Volta systems.
In a press release signed by Paa Kwesi Schandorf, degraded source areas and upper catchments will also receive priority because activities in those locations can affect water quality far downstream. The campaign will therefore combine field enforcement with monitoring of areas that feed major river basins.
Operation WATER SHIELD will involve relevant security and state agencies, with teams tasked to protect river sources, deny illegal miners access to waterways and dismantle the logistics supporting their activities. NAIMOS will also target the criminal and financial structures that enable illegal mining while supporting the restoration of degraded water bodies.
A major part of the operation will focus on machinery used in river destruction, including excavators, chanfang machines, water pumps and dredging equipment. The Secretariat indicated that such equipment could be seized, immobilised or otherwise dealt with in accordance with applicable law and established procedures.
The enforcement strategy will extend beyond miners working directly on riverbanks. Individuals and companies supplying or renting excavators, pumps and other equipment for illegal mining, as well as unauthorised fabricators of chanfang machines, will face increased scrutiny.
NAIMOS further plans continuous monitoring of cleared river corridors to prevent illegal miners from returning to previously disrupted sites. The approach is intended to support environmental recovery while protecting water sources used by communities, farmers and treatment facilities.
The Secretariat has appealed to traditional authorities, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, equipment owners, communities and the public to provide credible information on illegal mining activities. It also urged the public to report individuals or companies financing, facilitating or supplying equipment for such operations.
Operation Water Shield Builds On NAIMOS’ Intensified Galamsey Enforcement
The launch of Operation WATER SHIELD represents a further escalation of Ghana’s campaign against illegal mining, with NAIMOS placing protection of river systems at the centre of a sustained enforcement strategy.
The latest operation follows months of intensified field activity by the Secretariat, which has targeted illegal mining networks. In March 2026, NAIMOS reported that operations over the preceding 10 months had resulted in the seizure of 94 excavators, the destruction of nearly 3,000 chanfang machines and the arrest of 237 suspects.
Those figures underline the enforcement challenge facing the country as illegal mining threatens water bodies, forests and farmlands. NAIMOS has also previously carried out operations along the Ankobra and Tano river systems, dismantling mining infrastructure and removing equipment from illegal sites.
In August 2025, a NAIMOS task force working with Blue Water Guards raided illegal mining sites around the Ankobra River at Abelebo and Akango. The operation destroyed 50 chanfang machines, polytanks, generators and pipelines, while other equipment and items were seized.
Against this backdrop, WATER SHIELD places greater emphasis on preventing cleared areas from being occupied again. NAIMOS intends to combine intelligence, enforcement and surveillance so illegal operators cannot simply withdraw during raids and return after security teams leave.
The strategy also targets the wider supply chain supporting galamsey. Equipment owners, suppliers, facilitators and unauthorised fabricators are among those expected to face greater scrutiny as the Secretariat seeks to disrupt the networks that keep illegal mining operations functioning.
The campaign comes as government has continued to treat river bodies and forest reserves as priority areas in the fight against galamsey. In September 2025, the Lands Minister declared forests and rivers Security Zones and charged NAIMOS to protect them against illegal mining.
With WATER SHIELD, the Secretariat is seeking to move from repeated disruption to sustained control of vulnerable river corridors. The initiative will cover the Birim, Ankobra, Tano, Bia, Pra and Offin Rivers, as well as affected portions of the Black and White Volta systems.
READ ALSO: GPRTU Challenges 21-Day Rule For Auctioning Broken-Down Vehicles
