The Ashanti Regional Police Command has urged miners to report police officers who visit mining sites to demand or extort money, stressing that the Ghana Police Service has not been tasked with conducting illegal mining enforcement operations.
Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the Ashanti Regional Police Command, Superintendent Godwin Ahianyo, said the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) is currently responsible for leading the government’s fight against illegal mining.
He made the statement while speaking during the panel discussion on TV3’s Climate Talks 2026, Kumasi edition on Wednesday, September 23.
“We know that when it comes to fighting illegal mining, the core responsibilities lies on NAIMOS. Now we know that nationally it is NAIMOS fighting illegal mining,” Supt Ahianyo said.
No police team is supposed to go to mining site, it is solely the responsibility of NAIMOS so when they come report them to the appropriate authorities and I can assure you that action will be taken against those officers,” he assured.
Supt Ahianyo was responding to allegations by the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners, Michael Adu Gyamfi, that some police officers and other taskforces extort money from miners during enforcement operations.
The police spokesperson said any officer found independently operating at a mining site and demanding money should be reported to the Regional Police Command.
“If you see any police team coming to your site to demand or extort money, report that police to the Regional Police Command. We have the vehicle numbers,” he said.
He stressed that police personnel had been repeatedly informed that they were not authorised to conduct illegal mining enforcement operations at mining sites.
“We always tell them that no police team has been tasked to go to any mining site,” Supt Ahianyo said.
He assured miners that complaints against officers involved in such conduct would be investigated and appropriate action taken.
