GH¢22 billion GoldBod expenditure is cost of buying gold, not loss - Apanga

Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Gaming Commission, Lamtiig Apanga, says the controversy over the GH¢22 billion linked to Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme is being misrepresented as a loss when it is largely the cost of buying gold from local producers.

He noted that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) must pay competitive prices for gold to prevent miners from selling through other channels or smuggling the commodity out of the country.

“That is the operational cost, essentially, for the domestic gold purchase programme. That is the amount of money the Bank of Ghana needs to pay to be able to get the gold from the market,” Apanga said.

His comments follow claims by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin that the state lost about GH¢22 billion, equivalent to $1.7 billion, through gold purchasing operations in 2025.

GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi has rejected the claims, accusing the Minority of trying to create the impression that GoldBod had caused financial losses to the state.

Speaking on Channel One TV on Saturday, August 22, he also accused the NPP of using the controversy to attack Sammy Gyamfi and discredit the government’s gold purchasing programme.

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“To create the impression as if GoldBod has deliberately siphoned and taken away from Bank of Ghana GH¢22 billion, it’s ridiculous. It doesn’t add up,” he said.

Apanga said GoldBod has to compete with buyers on the international market to ensure locally produced gold remains within the formal trading system.

“If you don’t offer them what is offered on the market, they will find alternative ways to smuggle their gold out of the country,” he cautioned.

He further claimed that the criticism of GoldBod and its CEO was driven by frustration within the NPP over the performance of the programme and recent improvements in the economy.

“The frustration is that GoldBod has done so well. The economy has done so well. We have stabilised the cedi so well in the last almost one and a half years. And this is something they failed to do,” he stated.

The Minority, however, maintains that its concerns are based on the reported financial figures and has continued to demand accountability over the operations of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

DR/MA

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