Colonel Dominic Buah, Commander and Director of Operations at the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), is set to exit his role as part of what sources within the Ghana Armed Forces describe as a routine military rotation exercise. The timing, however, has not gone unnoticed.
Col. Buah carved out a reputation that extended well beyond military circles during his tenure at NAIMOS. His defining characteristic — an insistence that enforcement operations be carried out professionally, free from political or personal interference — made him one of the most closely watched figures in Ghana’s anti-galamsey machinery.
Under his direction, NAIMOS significantly escalated the tempo of operations. Between July 2025 and March 2026, the secretariat conducted over 120 operations across major mining hotspots, resulting in multiple arrests, the seizure of excavators and weapons, and the destruction of illegal mining equipment — outcomes Col. Buah described at a recent Accra media briefing as reflecting a high operational success rate.
At that same briefing, he did not mince words about what was at stake. Galamsey, he said, was an “existential threat” to Ghana — a crisis actively destroying water bodies, forests, and livelihoods. His warnings extended to both illegal miners and their financiers, whom he made clear would not find refuge in NAIMOS standing down.
Principled Posture in a Politically Charged Fight
What distinguished Col. Buah in the eyes of many observers was not just operational output but disposition. In a campaign frequently buffeted by accusations of political selectivity, community resistance, and attacks on personnel, he maintained a consistent public posture: the operations would continue, the pressure would not relent, and results — not rhetoric — would define NAIMOS’s legacy on his watch.
Ghana Seems To Have Lost The Fight Against Galamsey
That stance earned him considerable public goodwill, particularly among Ghanaians who have long argued that meaningful progress against galamsey demands bold, independent leadership insulated from outside influence.
The Ghana Armed Forces have so far offered no official statement detailing the specifics of Col. Buah’s replacement, with insiders maintaining that the change reflects standard military restructuring procedures. That explanation may well be accurate — officer rotations are a normal feature of military administration.
But in the context of an anti-galamsey campaign that remains one of Ghana’s most politically sensitive governance challenges, the departure of a figure of Col. Buah’s profile is unlikely to pass without scrutiny. NAIMOS, established by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to coordinate anti-illegal mining efforts across military, police, immigration, and intelligence agencies, now faces questions about continuity of leadership and operational momentum at a critical phase of the campaign.
For a country still fighting to reclaim its rivers and forests, those questions matter.