Ing. Wisdom Edem Gomashie
Mining consultant, Ing Wisdom Edem Gomashie, has expressed strong reservations about the government’s newly launched National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), describing the initiative as redundant and potentially another “money-making venture” with limited real impact on the fight against illegal mining.
In an open letter addressed to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, Ing. Gomashie argued that NAIMOS represents a repetition of past efforts that yielded little success.
“This new establishment, to me, is old wine in a new bottle,” he wrote, referencing the series of anti-galamsey operations initiated under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
He cited the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), “Galamstop,” “Operation Vanguard,” and “Operation Halt II” as well-intentioned but ultimately ineffective efforts, noting that many of these operations were hampered by information leaks, weak enforcement mechanisms, and a lack of decentralized, real-time response systems.
“In real time, sending troops from Accra to go arrest illegal miners on the Pra at Beposo was a charade. Information leaks got to the miners seconds after boardroom decisions were taken,” he observed.
Gomashie criticised the continued centralization of the anti-galamsey fight in Accra, stating that such top-down approaches have repeatedly failed to deliver results and instead create opportunities for a few individuals to profit at the expense of the taxpayer.
“Any initiative that seeks to fight illegal mining from Accra is a money-making venture for some few people with little impact,” he stated bluntly.
The mining expert expressed disappointment that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and its agencies had not adopted key recommendations made in the final stages of the previous administration.
Among these was the proposal to establish a Security Attaché at the Ministry, an embedded and decentralised enforcement unit working in tandem with the Ghana Police Service and supported by the high-tech surveillance infrastructure at the Minerals Commission.
He noted that such reforms would ensure real-time intelligence gathering, localized enforcement, and continuity beyond political transitions.
“The military or other security services are not co-terminus with the NPP, you humbly get what I mean,” he pointed out.
While he refrained from completely dismissing NAIMOS, Gomashie called on the current administration to reconsider its approach and build on lessons learned over the past eight years rather than duplicating structures that have already proven ineffective.
“I wish you well,” he concluded, “but let us not waste more public resources reinventing the wheel. Let’s work with the recommendations that already exist.”
His remarks come at a time when government efforts to tackle illegal mining are under renewed scrutiny, and they add to a growing chorus of calls for more sustainable, locally grounded solutions to Ghana’s long-running galamsey crisis.
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