The National Security has warned chiefs, politicians, and opinion leaders in the Eastern Region to refrain from interfering in the activities of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) as it begins its operations in the region.
Speaking to the press on Monday, October 13, the Eastern Regional National Security Liaison Officer, Francis Annor Dompreh, cautioned that any traditional leader or politician who attempts to intervene or plead on behalf of individuals arrested for illegal mining will also face arrest and prosecution.
“I keep emphasising the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat put together by the President himself, and they report to the President and then the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. And the point is that the order is straightforward: Let the waters be blue, be clean, drinkable, like they used to be. Let the forest be green, at least.
The point is that we don’t know any chief. We don’t know anybody. What we know is that this is the order: Get out! That is why I’m telling you, I’m emphasising and making the press conference. So if you know you are a chief, you are whatever, and you know you have machines on the rivers, you have machines in the forest, it is better for you yourself to go and pack your things and go wherever you will go.
Don’t come here again, don’t go near there, because you are not going to be allowed. Whether you come in the morning, you come in the afternoon, you come in the night, you will be dealt with,” he warned.
Mr. Annor Dompreh reiterated that the directive from the Presidency was clear and must be respected by all stakeholders, regardless of social or political status.
The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), established under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, is a special-purpose unit mandated to coordinate, monitor, and lead intelligence-driven field operations against illegal mining (galamsey) across Ghana.
