President Mahama has ordered  the Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Ahmed Ibrahim, to immediately probe allegations that the Amansie Central District Assembly has been collecting fees from illegal miners operating banned mining equipment.

"President Mahama has directed Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon Ahmed Ibrahim, to conduct immediate investigations into the allegations contained in the Joy News report with a view to taking swift action against anyone found culpable," the Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, announced in a post on X.

The directive comes after a damning JoyNews Hotline documentary revealed what it called a “galamsey tax” in the Ashanti Region, where miners reportedly pay GHS6,000 a year to use banned changfang machines, allegedly with the silent approval of local officials.

In this regard, Mr Kwakye Ofosu also indicated that, "the Minister earlier yesterday received a petition from Joy News on the matter and pledged to look into it with dispatch."

The investigative documentary showed that even though the use of changfangs, mechanised floating platforms that extract gold directly from water bodies, is banned nationwide, the Amansie Central District Assembly is said to have set up a task force to issue stickers and collect fees on the prohibited machines.

The report presented evidence of an organised payment system in which miners are charged thousands of cedis annually to operate the machines, effectively granting them permission to contaminate vital water sources.

A revenue officer known locally as "Red" appeared in the recordings, receiving payments from the operators of the banned equipment.

In response to the claims, the Amansie Central District Assembly denied creating the system to profit from illegal mining activities.

The Assembly maintained that collecting fees from operators of earth-moving equipment has been a longstanding practice across several administrations, dating as far back as 2008."The current administration did not introduce this system. It inherited an already existing administrative arrangement," the Assembly stated, describing the exposé as a misrepresentation of an old administrative practice "to suit a convenient political narrative."

A series of raids on illegal mining sites at Akyem Oda in the Birim Central Municipality of the Eastern Region by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAiMOS)team led to the arrest of five (5) Chinese illegal miners.

The raid was carried out on Monday, 29 Decemberb 2025, while the Chinese illegal miners were actively mining and washing into the Birim River.

According to a report by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources on Facebook, "two excavators found at the site were immobilized. One Toyota Hillux pickup and another Toyota Land cruiser used by the arrested Chinese illegal miners were seized by the taskforce. Several makeshift structures erected at the sites were destroyed together some water pumping machines and other mining equipment.|"

In September last year, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat task force seized illegal mining equipment in a major swoop in Obuasi in the Amansie Central District of the Ashanti Region.

Equipment seized during the operation conducted on Monday, November 17, 2025 included motorbikes, vehicles, water pumps, and other tools used for illegal mining activities. Makeshift shelters and assorted equipment at the site were also destroyed.

The task force also stormed a concession at Anyankyireml, a site that had been taken over by groups of illegal miners. Although the concession is legally owned by Asante Gold Corporation, it has been occupied by these illegal miners, forcing the rightful owners to flee the site.

However, the intervention of the NAIMOS team drove out the miners and securing the land for its rightful owners. Illegal mining continues to pose a major challenge to the country, with several foreign nationals implicated and multiple arrests made. In June, NAIMOS warned criminal groups to vacate galamsey areas.

The John Dramani Mahama-led government established the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat in July as part of efforts to curb illegal mining activities in the country.

Speaking during an update on Wednesday, July 23, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, disclosed that the newly established Secretariat would act as the brain of Ghana’s anti-illegal mining operations.

“To coordinate the efforts of the military, police, and other security agencies, the ministry has established the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) as the operational nerve-centre for Ghana’s fight against illegal small-scale mining,” he stated.

The Secretariat’s responsibility is to collaborate with other key institutions such as the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Finance (GRA–Customs Division), and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority as part of its mandate.

This collaboration is expected to ensure that excavators and other earth-moving equipment entering the country are not diverted for illegal mining activities.

“In collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance (GRA–Customs Division), and the Ports and Harbours Authority, we have initiated a proactive tracking of all imports of excavators and earth-moving equipment from the point of entry,” he added.

Illegal mining activities continue to pose a major challenge to the country. Several Chinese nationals have been involved in such illegal operations, leading to multiple arrests.