We can’t rely on NAIMOS alone to fight galamsey – Senyo Hosi
Convener of the OneGhana Movement and finance and economic policy analyst, Senyo Hosi, has called for a major rethink of Ghana's approach to tackling illegal mining, warning that the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) cannot win the fight on its own.
He says the country must adopt a broader strategy that addresses the economic and social conditions sustaining illegal mining, particularly in communities where it has become a major source of livelihood.
Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, November 14, Mr Hosi criticised what he described as an overreliance on NAIMOS, arguing that local authorities must take greater responsibility for enforcing mining laws and protecting their communities.
He specifically challenged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to strengthen enforcement at the local level rather than leave the responsibility largely to the national task force.
“We cannot rely on NAIMOS alone to win a war which has taken seed at the local level. MMDCEs, who control security at the local level, continue to fail to enforce the laws,” he said.
He also questioned the effectiveness of NAIMOS operations that involve moving from one community to another without ensuring that illegal mining activities are permanently halted.
“NAIMOS should just stop roaming people's villages,” he stated.
Citing operations at Osino, he questioned the sustainability of interventions if illegal miners returned immediately after security personnel withdrew.
“You went to Osino. You left the place. The people went back in. What did you achieve?” he asked.
Mr Hosi also raised concerns about allegations of extortion associated with anti-illegal mining operations, recalling similar accusations against previous interventions, including Operation Vanguard.
Economic realities must inform galamsey fight
Mr Hosi argued that the government's approach must recognise the scale of the economic interests and livelihoods tied to illegal mining.
He said it would be unrealistic to expect security operations alone to eliminate an activity involving an estimated one million to three million people without providing alternative sources of income.
“You are dealing with a trade that has about a million to three million people involved, a whole community. You can't just shut them down when that is actually their livelihood,” he said.
He noted that illegal mining had become intertwined with the economic survival and social realities of some communities, making enforcement without alternative livelihood opportunities difficult to sustain.
“The communities have this intertwined with their culture, their economic survival. You can't shoot poverty away. That is the reality of this,” he stated.
He further argued that the continued participation of residents, despite the deaths and dangers associated with illegal mining, demonstrated the depth of the socioeconomic challenges confronting affected communities.
For Mr Hosi, the government must recognise that the fight requires more than arrests, excavator seizures and military deployments.
“We can't keep wanting to do things the same way. There's a need for a total rethinking of this,” he said.
Questions need for state of emergency
Responding to whether Ghana still needed a state of emergency to address illegal mining, Mr Hosi said such a measure could be implemented in severely affected areas if the government was prepared to accept the political consequences.
He maintained that the problem was not necessarily the absence of the legal and security measures required to tackle galamsey, but a lack of political willingness to apply them decisively.
“It's not as though there's no need. Let me be very clear. While I often say the fight can't be won in the context of the political inertia that we have, if you want to win this, you will win it,” he said.
However, he cautioned against relying exclusively on military intervention, citing the disparity between Ghana's estimated military strength of 28,000 to 30,000 personnel and the millions of people he believes are involved in the illegal mining economy.
He also questioned the political and practical sustainability of shutting down livelihoods without addressing the conditions that drive people into the activity.
Cleaner water bodies, forest reserves should define success
Mr Hosi said Ghana must clearly define what success in the fight against illegal mining should look like, arguing that protecting water bodies and forest reserves must be the immediate priorities.
He said the country should focus its resources on achievable objectives rather than pursue an overly broad campaign without clearly identifying measurable outcomes.
“We just have to be clear and select our victories, our winnable tasks. We have to define what victory looks like at first,” he said.
According to him, the most important measure of progress should be cleaner rivers and the protection of forest reserves, rather than the number of enforcement operations conducted.
“What does victory look like for us in Ghana? Galamsey. It must mean cleaner waters. That is what victory should look like for us, number one. Number two, our forest reserves,” he stated.
He suggested that NAIMOS should prioritise stopping mining activities in rivers and their immediate surroundings, arguing that sustained enforcement in these areas would produce more visible environmental benefits.
“If NAIMOS and their work were just committed to our rivers, and nobody was mining on our rivers, at least for now, we wouldn't have this water we are seeing in front of us,” he said.
He also questioned the effectiveness of government expenditure on the anti-galamsey campaign, insisting that the results must be assessed against improvements in water quality and the restoration of degraded forest reserves.
Referring to the government's 2027 budgetary allocations and statements by the Finance Minister, Mr Hosi said the public deserved measurable evidence that the resources committed to the fight were producing results.
“You should be telling us whether our water bodies have improved with all the investments you have made in that particular sector,” he said.
“It hasn't. It has gotten worse,” he added.
He maintained that unless Ghana addresses the economic incentives sustaining illegal mining while protecting its critical environmental resources, the country risks repeating enforcement exercises without achieving lasting results.
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