GoldBod must be more accountable to Ghanaians – Haruna Iddrisu

Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has urged stronger accountability at the Ghana Gold Board, highlighting the magnitude of funds at stake and the need to tackle reported losses. He emphasized the importance of improving the Gold Board's performance and ensuring its operations, along with those of the Bank of Ghana, do not result in avoidable losses.

"You see, today, you ought to have improved the Gold Board legislation in a manner that it can become more accountable to the Ghanaian people, because the amount of money involved is huge," he stated. Mr Iddrisu acknowledged the existence of losses and called for a unified response to address these concerns. "So we have a gold board today.

There have been reported cases of losses. Let’s not run," he said, questioning whether GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana could function without incurring such losses. The Tamale South MP also criticized the opposition's decision to leave the Parliament during the passage of the GoldBod bill, calling it "immaturity on their part." When asked if he would back changes to the current system to prevent future losses, Iddrisu replied affirmatively, stating that President Mahama would welcome any objective suggestion from any Ghanaian aimed at enhancing the Goldbod's performance.

Despite calling for improvements, he defended the government's gold interventions, affirming that they had bolstered Ghana's gold reserves and stabilized the currency, thereby aiding businesses in planning and reducing business costs.