News
NAIMOS, Ghana Army secure Atwima Mponua Forest Reserve from illegal miners
The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), working with the Ghana Army and Forestry Commission, has carried out a major operation to clear illegal miners and armed groups from the Atwima Mponua Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region.
This was revealed on the Facebook page of Gold Board Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi.
The dawn swoop, conducted on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, involved troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion, officials of the Forestry Commission and NAIMOS personnel. The team moved into Anhwiafutu in the Nkawie Forest District of the Offin Shelter Belt, acting on local intelligence.
When the task force arrived, it found fresh excavator tracks, indicating that several machines had been moved shortly before the operation. Large areas of the forest showed evidence of illegal mining activities. Some miners fled on sighting the team.
During the raid, the task force retrieved and immobilised nine excavators concealed in the forest. It also seized two Toyota Hilux pickups and a Nissan pickup believed to have been used in the operations.
The team burned five “chanfang” machines, several fuel dumps, old excavator engines, personal belongings and seven water pumping machines belonging to the miners.
A nearby house suspected to shelter foreign illegal miners was also searched.
Twelve Chinese nationals had reportedly been staying there but fled before the raid. Items found in the house included 18 excavator batteries, 31 buckets of grease, seven gas cylinders, a mini car washing machine and an excavator radiator.
The seized excavators were immobilised on site because there were no low-bed trucks available to transport them out of the community.
The operation forms part of ongoing efforts to protect forest reserves and water bodies from illegal mining.
By: Jacob Aggrey
The Ghana Police Service has revealed that they have sighted a viral video in which a group of people are seen pelting stones at a student.
According to them in a statement today, Monday, February 23, 2026, investigations into the incident are ongoing, and further developments will be communicated in due course.
“The Service strongly condemns the violence and assures the public that all perpetrators will be identified and brought to justice,” the statement concluded.
Former Tamale Central MP, Inusah Fuseini, has rejected claims that cocoa farmers are worse off under the current administration, insisting that producers are receiving greater value compared to the previous government.
Speaking on Metro TV, he accused the New Patriotic Party of pushing what he described as misleading propaganda about cocoa prices.
He explained that when the NPP was paying 3,100 cedis per bag of cocoa, the exchange rate stood at about 17 cedis to one US dollar.
Based on that rate, he argued that farmers were effectively earning around 182 dollars per bag.
According to him, this amount was lower than what farmers receive today when converted into dollar terms.
Fuseini stated that upon assuming office, the National Democratic Congress pegged the cedi at a stronger rate against the dollar and adjusted cocoa prices accordingly.
He noted that when the producer price was set at 2,650 cedis, the equivalent value was about 252 dollars per bag, which he maintained was significantly higher than the earlier figure.
