The Minority New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Parliament has rejected the response by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to concerns over the financial performance of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), insisting that the government has failed to adequately account for a reported GH¢22 billion loss recorded under the programme in 2025.
In a statement signed by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, the Minority said GoldBod’s response at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, did not dispute the loss reported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but instead sought to shift responsibility for it.
The Minority said the IMF’s Sixth Country Report, numbered 26/213 and issued in August 2026, reported a loss of US$1.7 billion, equivalent to about GH¢22 billion, under the DGPP in 2025.
“The GoldBod’s statement this morning confirms more than it rebuts,” the Minority said.
“The Chief Executive does not dispute the IMF’s finding that there is a loss of US$1.7 billion (GH¢22 billion) under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme in 2025. He disputes only who should be blamed. This is public money, whichever State balance sheet it sits on,” it added.
The Minority also questioned the relationship between GoldBod’s reported operational surplus and the fees it earned from the DGPP.
It said the GoldBod CEO had disclosed that the institution accounted for about GH¢133 billion in advances under the programme and received an assay fee of one per cent and a service fee of 0.5 per cent.
The Minority argued that, based on those figures, GoldBod earned substantial fees from a programme which, according to the IMF report, resulted in a significant loss to the state.
It further pointed to GoldBod’s reported operational surplus of GH¢907 million, arguing that the figure needed to be examined against the fee income generated from the programme.
“The plain implication of his own numbers is that the operational surplus he is celebrating is smaller than the fee income he collected from a programme that lost the state GH¢22 billion,” the statement said.
“Strip out the agency fees and there is no operational surplus to speak of. That is the point he did not address, and it is the point he must now address,” the Minority added.
The Minority also accused GoldBod of seeking to claim the benefits associated with the DGPP while distancing itself from the financial losses.
It said the GoldBod CEO’s response attributed the scaling-up of the programme to broader economic developments, including a 41 per cent appreciation of the cedi, an increase in foreign exchange reserves from US$8.9 billion to US$13 billion and a decline in inflation.
The Minority said GoldBod had previously taken public credit for those developments and therefore could not present itself as merely an implementing agency when the costs of the programme were being considered.
“An institution that claims authorship of the benefits cannot describe itself as a passive agent when the costs are counted,” it said.
The Minority also raised concerns about the funding arrangements for the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme (GANRAP).
According to the Minority, the GoldBod CEO indicated that responsibility for the cost of implementing GANRAP shifted from the Bank of Ghana to the Ministry of Finance in July 2026, while GoldBod began seeking independent funding from August.
The Minority described the development as evidence of an unsettled funding model.
“Three funding arrangements in six months is not a settled model. We view this with curious eyes,” the statement said.
The Minority maintained that the reported GH¢22 billion loss constitutes a financial loss to the Republic and must therefore be fully accounted for, irrespective of which government institution’s balance sheet carries it.
“The GH¢22 billion losses as reported by the IMF Sixth Country Report, numbered 26/213 issued in August 2026, amount to a financial loss to the Republic. It must be accounted for!” the Minority said.
The Caucus also criticised what it described as inappropriate language used by the GoldBod CEO in responding to its earlier concerns.
Mr Afenyo-Markin took particular exception to the CEO’s reference to a “brothel”, arguing that such language was inappropriate for a public officer responding to questions concerning public finances.
“Ghanaians asked for figures. They were given insults. The figures are still outstanding” the statement said.
The Minority said it would continue to demand clarity on the financial and operational performance of GoldBod and the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, particularly regarding the reported loss and the management of public funds.
By: Christian Kpesese
