You don’t trade in gold and make losses, no serious institution loses this much money by accident - Afenyo tells GOLDBOD

Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has harshly criticized the Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD) for the significant financial losses it has incurred. Afenyo-Markin stated that no serious institution would lose this much money by accident. He argued that the situation at GOLDBOD is a result of an unchecked few having control over Ghana's gold without proper oversight.

At a press conference in Parliament on August 18, Afenyo-Markin warned that the Minority will file a motion to compel GOLDBOD management to explain the losses when Parliament reconvenes. He urged NDC lawmakers not to use their majority to obstruct this necessary scrutiny. Afenyo-Markin vowed that his party will investigate the 22 billion Cedis in losses at GOLDBOD and is questioning whether the allocation of risk between the state institution managing gold and the institution supplying the capital is prudent.

He accused GOLDBOD of using the Bank of Ghana as an alter ego to avoid accountability, despite presenting clean earnings on the surface. Afenyo-Markin believes the GoldBod losses represent a structural bleeding of the national purse and indicate that government policies are misaligned. He pointed out that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) claims that 17% of the value of every ounce of gold sold by the Bank of Ghana disappears due to the rates paid to miners and the bookkeeping practices.