A joint anti-galamsey task force has raided an illegal mining site, popularly known as galamsaey at Anum-Apapam in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region, setting four excavators ablaze in the process.
The operation, carried out in the early hours of Wednesday, September 18, 2025, forms part of the government’s renewed crackdown on illegal mining activities that continue to devastate water bodies and farmlands across the country.
Eyewitnesses reported that the task force, made up of military and national security operatives, stormed the site and ordered workers to vacate the area before torching the heavy equipment.
No arrests were immediately confirmed, though some illegal miners were said to have fled the scene upon sighting the security team.
The destruction of the excavators is consistent with the government’s controversial “burn-on-sight” approach, which authorities argue is the most effective way of deterring galamsey operators.
However, the method has also sparked debate, with critics calling for confiscation and reallocation of the machines rather than their outright destruction.
Anum-Apapam and surrounding communities have, in recent years, become hotbeds of illegal mining, raising concerns among residents about pollution of the Ayensu River and the loss of fertile farmlands.
The latest operation signals the task force’s determination to intensify efforts to curb galamsey in the Eastern Region, one of the worst-affected areas in the country.
However, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has secured the Atwima Mponua Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region, dealing a heavy blow to illegal mining activities.
On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, a NAIMOS Task Force, supported by troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Army and officials from the Forestry Commission (FC), stormed Anhwiafutu in the Nkawie Forest District of the Offin Shelter Belt.
The operation was guided by tight-lipped local intelligence. The joint force arrived at dawn, only to discover visible tracks of heavy excavators across the community.
Signs indicated that several machines had been hastily moved out just hours before the team’s arrival. Upon reaching the forest zone, the task force found overwhelming evidence of widespread illegal mining activities.
