Ghana's Minority demands answers on GH¢22bn GoldBod loss

Ghana's Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, is demanding transparency and accountability concerning a reported GH¢22 billion loss associated with the Ghana Gold Board's (GoldBod) domestic gold purchasing program. Afenyo-Markin asserts that the Minority's concerns are not politically motivated but stem from Ghanaians' right to clear information on public fund utilization.

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Ghanaians deserved clear information on how public funds were being used in GoldBod’s domestic gold purchasing programme.

The figures cited by the Minority, Afenyo-Markin stated at a press conference, originate from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report. The report identifies losses of approximately $1.7 billion, equivalent to GH¢22 billion, within the program in 2025. The IMF attributes these financial shortfalls to factors including service and assay fees, discounts on gold sold to off-takers, and discrepancies between the gold purchase exchange rates and the Bank of Ghana's reference rate.

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The figures cited by the Minority were contained in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on Ghana and were therefore not figures manufactured by the opposition.

Afenyo-Markin questioned the financial structure, specifically why GoldBod receives transaction fees while the Bank of Ghana absorbs the majority of the financial risks. He emphasized that the economic impact on the country remains the same regardless of which institution's accounts show the loss. The Minority Leader called for detailed explanations regarding the gold purchase prices, their determination, the selection of off-takers, applied discounts, and GoldBod's earned fees.

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The Minority Leader stressed that the fact that a loss appeared in an institution’s accounts did not change its economic impact on the country.

Furthermore, the Minority Leader scrutinized the risk-sharing arrangement between GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana. He argued that an entity conducting commercial activities should not profit from transaction fees if another institution shoulders the primary financial burden. Afenyo-Markin stressed that the Minority aims to hold public institutions accountable for managing public resources, not to engage in personal disputes, and vowed to continue scrutinizing the program due to its ultimate impact on Ghanaian taxpayers.

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The Minority was not seeking to trade insults with GoldBod officials but was focused on holding public institutions accountable for the management of public resources.