Four men face down by the Offin at Subin-Akwaboso. The record shows arrests, rarely prosecutions

On Sunday 1 November 2026, two broadcasters posted footage of the same anti-illegal mining operation on a muddy river. JoyNews showed soldiers in firing positions behind gravel mounds, smoke, a team on the bank beside a changfan platform and a mounted gun, under the caption "NAIMOS team in combat mode as illegal miners fight back during its operations." Adom TV showed four men lying face down on red earth by the river while a police officer and soldiers lifted them, under the caption "Four illegal miners arrested at Subin Akwaaboso."

The place comes from Adom TV's caption. Subin-Akwaboso is a town on the River Offin in the Upper Denkyira West Municipality of the Central Region.

What is not known

As of Sunday evening, QMS could find no written report and no statement from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), the Lands Ministry or the Ghana Police Service on the operation. Who fired first, whether any guns were recovered, whether anyone was hurt, who the four men are, what they are charged with and which police station holds them are all unanswered.

This town, before

This is not the first operation at Subin-Akwaboso. Between 7 and 13 September 2026, NAIMOS and the Ghana Armed Forces seized 15 excavators at Subin-Akwaboso and two more at Dunkwa-on-Offin, 17 in all, and destroyed changfans and structures, 3News reported. The equipment was taken to a military facility in the Ashanti Region "pending further investigations and administrative action". No arrests were reported and no owners were named. This account comes from one outlet; QMS found no second report.

In May, the same district had a larger arrest. On 11 May 2026, a NAIMOS swoop at Groso, along the Offin in Upper Denkyira West, described as a "resurgence site", arrested 15 people, 11 men and four women aged 16 to 35, including a Nigerien and a Togolese. They were handed to the Upper Denkyira West District Police at Diaso, Class FM and GH Extractives reported. QMS found no charge, court date or conviction since.

Arrests, not prosecutions

The gap between arrests and prosecutions has been acknowledged at the top. In October 2025, Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah of the Mahama (NDC) government said that of 845 galamsey arrests in 2023 and 2024, under the Akufo-Addo (NPP) government, "only 35 cases were successfully prosecuted", about 4 per cent. The figure is his count of the previous government's record, reported by Citi Newsroom and DailyPost.

Buah has also said the challenge is prosecution, not arrest, MyJoyOnline and Adom Online reported. In his State of the Nation Address on 27 February 2026, President John Dramani Mahama said "over 114 case dockets" on illegal mining were pending, Graphic Online and Adom Online reported. QMS could not find a published national figure for galamsey convictions in 2026.

Arrested foreigners can be deported instead. On 3 April 2025, Interior Minister Muntaka Mubarak said 107 foreigners had been deported over galamsey since he took office, 92 of them Chinese, adding: "If we arrest any foreigner in that illegality, we will just deport the person." Citi Newsroom and GhanaWeb reported his remarks.

The one prominent conviction QMS could find is that of Bernard Antwi-Boasiako, known as Chairman Wontumi, the NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman. On 20 July 2026, an Accra High Court sentenced him to 20 years in prison with hard labour, the terms to run concurrently, in the Akonta Mining case. He is appealing. QMS found no other conviction in 2025 or 2026 of an excavator owner or financier.

The guns

Armed resistance to anti-galamsey teams has been reported across the country this year:

• 20 January 2026, Dormaa Central (Bono): gunmen in the bush on the Subinkuro–Kyeremasu stretch fired on a NAIMOS team. An officer was shot in the thigh and one attacker was killed, MyJoyOnline and Graphic Online reported.
• 28 April 2026, Western Region: gunmen fired pump-action rounds at a NAIMOS pickup near a GREL plantation. Days later, a dawn raid at Adiewoso in Ahanta West led to 49 people being handed to the police, MyJoyOnline and 3News reported.
• 18 May 2026, Western North: miners armed with guns and cutlasses attacked a chief-led community taskforce at the Afao Hills Forest Reserve near Sefwi Asawinso. Kwame Ayisi, 38, was killed and five people were wounded, Graphic Online and Citi Newsroom reported.

In March 2026 NAIMOS said at least 59 weapons had been recovered, MyJoyOnline and the Ghana News Agency reported. On 19 October 2026, at Mining in Motion, President Mahama put the number of firearms seized at "almost 200", according to Citi Newsroom and MyJoyOnline.

In September 2025, Dr Adam Bonaa of the National Commission on Small Arms said that "without the weapons it would have been easy to fight galamsey", and that most guns seized in the Ashanti Region are locally made. QMS could not find any published case of a seized galamsey gun being traced to its maker, seller or the person who paid for it.

Politicians on both sides

On Saturday 1 November 2025, a crowd of about 600 besieged the police station at Hwidiem in the Ahafo Region after NAIMOS arrests at Bronikrom. Police said the NDC MP for Asutifi North, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, led those who removed the suspects' handcuffs. He denied it, saying "under no circumstances will I incite the youth", and was questioned by the CID, Graphic Online and GhanaWeb reported. QMS found no record of a charge.

In June 2024, Ernest Frimpong, then the NPP parliamentary candidate for Amenfi East, was filmed allegedly telling miners to attack soldiers. He said his words were taken out of context. Tarkwa Police granted him bail on 12 June 2024, 3News and Starr FM reported.

Still unanswered

Who owns the 15 excavators seized at Subin-Akwaboso in September, whether the pit filmed on 1 November sits inside a licensed concession or the Offin buffer zone, and what became of the 15 people arrested at Groso in May have not been made public. QMS will update this story if NAIMOS or the police publish an account of the 1 November operation.