Security analyst Professor Kwesi Aning has cautioned that the newly established National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) risks suffering the same fate as previous anti-galamsey initiatives if systemic corruption and weak institutional structures are not addressed.
Prof. Aning emphasized the need to protect the personnel deployed under the initiative from the corrupt influences that derailed earlier operations such as Operation Vanguard and Operation Halt.
“These are our sons and brothers in uniform. They are only about four hundred. The question is, how do we protect them from the same corruption that undermined Operation Vanguard and Operation Halt? If we do not build systems that shield them, we will lose them too,” he cautioned on Joy FM’s Newsfile.
The security analyst stressed that cosmetic changes, such as rebranding or deploying new task forces, would be futile if the core problems of political interference and financial inducement persist.
“New uniforms and new names mean nothing if the underlying interests remain untouched. NAIMOS must be insulated from political control and financial temptation; otherwise, the same cycle will repeat,” he warned.
Prof. Aning also underscored the importance of measurable outcomes to ensure transparency and real progress in the fight against illegal mining.
“You can send soldiers, you can pass new laws, but if we cannot measure the outcome daily and monthly, we are only pretending to fight,” he stated.
