'We won't take moral lessons from the brothel' - Sammy Gyamfi fires back at Afenyo-Markin

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has lashed out at the Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, over claims that the institution has been selling gold at a loss, saying the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has no moral standing to lecture the government on losses in the sector.

Speaking during the Government Accountability Series on August 19, 2026, Gyamfi dismissed the claims and turned the spotlight on the previous administration’s record, particularly the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, which he said was implemented under the supervision of the Bank of Ghana and recorded losses of more than $90 million.

“Today, they want to give us lectures on gold trading. Ladies and gentlemen, I have news for them. We will not take moral lessons from the brothel,” Gyamfi said.

He said the criticism was coming from the same political party whose tenure, according to him, resulted in significant losses under a gold purchase programme.

“And this is also coming from the same people under whose tenure, another state institution, MIFF, implemented a gold purchase programme and recorded losses to the tune of over $90 million,” he said.

Gyamfi also rejected the Minority Leader’s suggestion that the Bank of Ghana had withdrawn from financing GoldBod because of problems with the institution’s operations.

"...The Bank of Ghana has not pulled out from anything. The NPP government decided that it will run a programme called the Domestic Gold Purchase Program, which will be managed by the Bank of Ghana,” he said.

He explained that the programme introduced under the previous administration was different from the model currently being implemented by GoldBod.

According to him, the GoldBod model established under the Gold Board Act is not dependent on financing from the central bank.

“And so this new Gold Board model as envisioned under the Gold Board Act is not anchored on Bank of Ghana financing the Gold Board," he said.

He said Parliament had given GoldBod the authority to raise its own funds from the financial markets.

“The Gold Board has been given the powers under Section 18 of the Gold Board Act by Parliament to raise money for itself from the financial markets,” he added.

Gyamfi therefore argued that the Bank of Ghana ending its role under the previous Domestic Gold Purchase Programme should not be interpreted as evidence that GoldBod had been operating improperly.

“And so if the Gold Board wants to assert that statutory mandate, and for that matter, the Bank of Ghana has to end what it was doing under the domestic gold purchase programme, you don't look at that and say, oh, that means the Gold Board was doing something wrong,” he stated.

He further claimed that the IMF and the Bank of Ghana were still engaging GoldBod over a possible role as fiscal agents under the new model.

Sammy Gyamfi rubbishes Afenyo-Markin's $1.7 billion GoldBod loss claim

“I can tell you that as we speak, the IMF and the Bank of Ghana are all engaging Gold Board, and they still want to be our fiscal agents under the gold board model, where they will be raising money for us as an intermediary.

“It is the Gold Board that is rather saying, 'No, we will do it ourselves.'" So that claim is not true,” he said.

Gyamfi also rejected the claim that GoldBod was taking credit for the gains recorded under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme while refusing to accept responsibility for its losses.

“They say Gold Board takes credit for the upside of the domestic gold purchase programme, but the gold board does not take the blame for the downside. So we are being double standards.

“Gold Board has not taken any credit for any upside of any domestic gold purchase programme," he noted.

Rather, he said the institution was pointing out the contribution it made as a buying agent for the Bank of Ghana.

He attributed the increased volume of gold purchases to measures introduced by GoldBod to improve aggregation and tackle smuggling.

JKB/VPO

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