Minority demands answers from GoldBod over suspected galamsey gold purchases

The Minority in Parliament is demanding urgent clarification from the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) on the source of its gold purchases, amid fears that the Board may be buying gold from unlicensed or illegal mining operations, potentially worsening Ghana’s galamsey crisis.

Chairman of Parliament’s Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Patrick Boamah, said GoldBod’s activities raise serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and compliance with its own governing law.

“If you visit the Gold Board’s website right now, you won’t find the information required by law, the Gold Board was established in April, and we are now at the end of October well over a quarter later yet there’s still no disclosure of gold sources or related data,” Mr Boamah said.

He expressed frustration that, while the Board has been active in appointing brand ambassadors, donating vehicles, and making public gestures, it has failed to meet basic legal obligations under Section 42 of its establishing Act.

“What the law requires them to do hasn’t been complied with and that’s dangerous, this is happening at a time when the World Bank, the European Union, and other international bodies are watching how Ghana is handling the fight against galamsey,” he added.

Mr. Boamah also questioned the integrity of the Gold Board’s supply chain, asking, “Where is the Gold Board getting all that gold from? Is it from responsible mining companies, small-scale miners, or galamsey sites?” He warned that without transparency, the state could be unknowingly fueling illegal mining.

The MP further raised alarms over what he described as illegal fees and charges being imposed by GoldBod, noting that Parliament has not approved any fees for the institution.

“I’ll be pursuing both the Bank of Ghana and the Gold Board on these issues, some of these charges are already under scrutiny by the World Bank and IMF.

There are also pricing and loss issues that GoldBod, the Bank of Ghana, and the Finance Ministry must address,” he noted.

Mr. Boamah announced plans to file a parliamentary question to compel the Finance Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to explain the basis for GoldBod’s financial practices.

He revealed that in response to a letter he wrote to the Board, GoldBod confirmed that since its establishment, it has licensed one sole aggregator, 21 self-financing aggregators, 204 tier-one buyers, and 420 tier-two buyers.

“GoldBod isn’t even a year old,” he noted. “So what due diligence did they conduct before licensing this many companies?”

The lawmaker also questioned how the Board is funding its operations, saying a letter from the Ministry of Finance confirmed that no budgetary allocation had been made to the institution.

“The Ministry has not received, transferred, or made any allocation to the Gold Board,” he quoted from the letter signed by the Ministry’s Chief Director.

“So the question is: how is the GoldBod being funded? Is it from the Central Bank? Is the Bank of Ghana printing money to fund the GoldBod? Why should that be happening?”