The General Overseer of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, has urged Ghanaians to pray for the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
He warned that GoldBod is facing what he described as a “very powerful movement” made up of people who do not want efforts to clean up Ghana’s gold sector to succeed.
Speaking during a church service on Sunday, August 16, the Archbishop said some people involved in the gold business are unhappy with the stronger measures being taken against illegal gold purchases.
According to him, some of these individuals are now looking for other ways to get access to Ghana’s gold through GoldBod.
He said he had received calls from people in countries where Ghanaian gold was previously bought through illegal channels. Some of them, he claimed, were trying to find links to senior officials who could help them buy gold through GoldBod.
“They can’t get the gold like before illegally, so they want some channels to the Gold Board so they can purchase the gold now from the Gold Board,” he said.
Duncan-Williams expressed concern that GoldBod could be dealing with people who have strong connections, deep knowledge of the gold industry and large amounts of money.
“It’s clear to me that the Gold Board is dealing with a very powerful movement—people very, very established who know and understand the field and how to do this and don’t want the right thing to be done,” he said.
The Archbishop also spoke about the scale of illegal gold trading involving Ghana.
He recalled a previous meeting with members of a ruling family in a Middle Eastern country, where he said he was told that the amount of Ghanaian gold received through illegal channels was three times higher than the amount officially recorded by the Ghanaian government as having been sold to that country.
He said the information shocked and deeply saddened him.
“It disturbed me. It really broke my heart,” he recounted.
He further claimed that the people involved in the illegal gold trade were highly influential and had enough financial resources to operate on a large scale.
The preacher also connected the illegal gold trade to the wider problems caused by illegal mining, particularly the destruction of Ghana’s water bodies and farmlands.
He warned that political interests should not be allowed to interfere with efforts to enforce laws that protect Ghana’s natural resources.
Duncan-Williams therefore called on Ghanaians to spend time praying for the country and for GoldBod as it works to regulate the gold trade and fight illegal activities in the sector.
“We need to intercede for our country,” he said.
