The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has launched Operation WATER SHIELD, a sustained national enforcement campaign aimed at protecting Ghana’s major rivers, watersheds and critical water resources from the destructive effects of illegal mining.
The operation, announced in a statement dated Friday, September 11, 2026, marks a shift from isolated enforcement raids to a sustained, intelligence-led campaign targeting priority river systems, downstream communities and water-treatment facilities.
According to NAIMOS, the campaign will focus on some of the country’s most threatened river systems, including the Birim, Ankobra, Tano, Bia, Pra and Offin rivers, as well as affected sections of the Black and White Volta systems.
Strategic source areas and upper catchments whose degradation affects downstream water quality will also receive priority attention under the operation.
NAIMOS said Operation WATER SHIELD would be conducted in collaboration with relevant security and state agencies to protect strategic river source areas and disrupt illegal mining activities.
The operation will involve denying illegal miners access to riverbanks and waterways, dismantling mining logistics networks, disrupting commercial and financial structures supporting illegal mining, and supporting the restoration of degraded water bodies.
It will also establish sustained monitoring systems to prevent the reoccupation of areas cleared of illegal mining activities.
“The ultimate objective is to substantially degrade and contain illegal mining within protected watersheds, restrict the movement of heavy equipment into critical river systems, disrupt financing and supply networks, improve water quality and restore effective control over affected river basins,” the statement said.
NAIMOS said enforcement under the operation would be firm, sustained and uncompromising, while remaining within the law.
Illegal miners operating on water bodies and riverbanks should expect their operations to be disrupted, with equipment seized, immobilised or otherwise dealt with in accordance with applicable law and established procedures.
The statement identified excavators, changfan machines, water pumps, dredging equipment and other machinery used to destroy water bodies as key enforcement targets.
Beyond miners operating directly on riverbanks, the campaign will target networks that facilitate illegal mining activities.
NAIMOS said facilitators, unauthorised fabricators of changfan machines, individuals or companies that rent or supply excavators, pumps and other machinery for illegal mining would face increased scrutiny and enforcement action.
The Secretariat said the campaign would extend to the financial and logistical networks supporting illegal mining, signalling a broader approach to tackling the activities beyond their immediate environmental impact.
Cleared river corridors will also be continuously monitored to prevent reoccupation and support environmental recovery, particularly in river basins that supply communities, agriculture and water-treatment systems.
NAIMOS has called on traditional authorities, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, equipment owners, mining communities and the general public to support Operation WATER SHIELD.
The Secretariat urged the public to provide credible information on illegal mining activities and those who finance, facilitate or supply equipment for such operations.
The launch comes amid ongoing concerns over the impact of illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, on Ghana’s water bodies, forests and livelihoods.
