2 NDC MPs fingered in alleged attack on NAIMOS director and taskforce in Hwidiem

Tensions flared in Hwidiem in the Ahafo Region on Saturday, 1 November 2025, when the Director of Operations of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and his team were allegedly attacked by a mob reportedly led by two Members of Parliament (MPs) from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to a report by broadcast journalist Erastus Asare Donkor, the Director, identified as Colonel Buah, was on a reconnaissance mission with ten (10) soldiers to assess a potential site for a permanent anti-illegal mining taskforce base when the team discovered an excavator engaged in illegal mining near Bronikrom along the Goaso–Hwidiem highway. Several individuals were arrested, and temporary mining shelters were destroyed.

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A search of the suspects’ vehicles uncovered a pistol, ammunition, mobile phones, cash totalling GH¢11,000, and other items. While arrangements were being made to transport the suspects to the Hwidiem Police Station, the Member of Parliament for Asutifi North, Ebenezer Kwaku Addo, allegedly arrived at the scene with a group of men and demanded that the arrested suspects be released.

The report further indicated that the MP allegedly claimed he had been sent by Hon. Collins Dauda, MP for the area, to ensure the release of the suspects. When the NAIMOS Director refused, insisting that due process must be followed, the MP and his men reportedly turned violent, forcibly removing the handcuffs from the suspects and chasing the officers towards the police station.

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Upon arrival, the situation escalated as a crowd of about six hundred (600) people, believed to have been mobilised by the MP, besieged the station, demanding the release of the suspects and seized vehicles. The mob vandalised a NAIMOS vehicle and threatened to burn down the police station.

Reinforcements led by Chief Superintendent Prince Odom-Koduah and other senior officers from Goaso and Kenyase eventually managed to restore some order. With the intervention of the Zongo Chief of Hwidiem, Alhaji Mohammed Bashiru Zarikyi, the officers were escorted to safety following the release of the impounded vehicles.

Colonel Buah condemned the MPs’ actions, describing them as a serious obstruction to law enforcement. “The fight against illegal mining requires every citizen, especially those in leadership, to stand for the law, not to shield offenders,” he stated.

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NAIMOS has reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining operations against illegal mining despite the Hwidiem incident.