Don't use your supermajority to stop scrutiny of GOLDBOD - Afenyo-Markin tells NDC MPs

Minority Leader in Parliament Alexander Afenyo-Markin says the Minority Caucus will seek a parliamentary motion to compel the management of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to account for losses recorded under its gold purchasing operations.

He also appealed to the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Majority to support the motion when Parliament resumes, insisting that GoldBod's operations must be subjected to parliamentary scrutiny.

Mr Afenyo-Markin made the remarks at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.

According to the Minority Leader, the caucus has prepared a motion seeking greater accountability over GoldBod's financial operations.

He urged NDC lawmakers not to use their parliamentary majority to prevent the motion from being debated.

“Don't use your supermajority to stop scrutiny of GoldBod operations. Our motion is ready; we have filed, and when we get back next week, we pray that you, the Majority, will support the motion,” he said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said the Minority intends to scrutinise what he described as approximately GH¢22 billion in losses associated with GoldBod's operations.

His comments come amid growing political scrutiny of the government's gold purchasing arrangements and the financial relationship between GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

The Minority Leader questioned the structure under which GoldBod purchases, aggregates, assays and exports gold while the Bank of Ghana provides capital and carries much of the financial downside.

“If one state institution is responsible for buying, aggregating, assaying, and exporting gold and another state institution supplies the capital and bears virtually all the downside, Parliament is entitled to ask whether the risk allocation is prudent,” he said.

He further accused GoldBod of relying on the central bank in a manner that, in his view, weakens accountability.

“GoldBod is using the Bank of Ghana as an alter ego to evade accountability. Its earnings are clean on the surface but dirty in substance,” he alleged.

The claims have not been independently established in the remarks, and GoldBod or the Bank of Ghana would have the opportunity to respond to the allegations.

Mr Afenyo-Markin also referred to findings contained in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on Ghana's domestic gold purchasing programme.

He argued that the reported losses represented a significant financial burden on the state and reflected what he described as structural weaknesses in the gold purchasing system.

“The IMF tells us that 17% of the value of every ounce of gold sold by the Bank of Ghana simply disappeared. It vanished through the rate paid to miners and the rate used in the books. This is a structural bleeding of our national purse,” he stated.

He described the losses as a “structural bleeding” of the national purse and argued that they raised questions about the government's policy approach to domestic gold purchases.

The latest comments are part of growing calls from the Minority for Parliament to examine GoldBod's operations, particularly the financial risks associated with the domestic gold purchasing programme.

The Minority has maintained that parliamentary scrutiny is necessary to establish the extent of the losses, determine how the losses were incurred and assess whether the current structure represents value for money for the Ghanaian taxpayer.

The proposed motion is expected to come before Parliament when lawmakers resume sitting.

The debate is likely to focus on GoldBod's financial performance, its relationship with the Bank of Ghana, the pricing mechanisms used in purchasing gold from local producers and the broader economic objectives of Ghana's domestic gold purchasing policy.