GoldBod has fully met its reporting obligations and welcomes public feedback

Recent commentary on GoldBod’s 2nd and 3rd Quarter reports by Bright Simons of IMANI Africa has raised questions about the scope and detail of the reports and has called the integrity of the reports into question, on grounds of what he described as gaps in the information provided.

While public commentary on the reports is both welcome and important for strengthening accountability within the gold trade sector, they must be within the remit of the set-out legal parameters and without malice.

It is instructive to note that, Sect 42 of Act 1140 which established the GoldBod, provides some guidance on what to cover in the quarterly reports at the broad level, and does not provide details.

The revenues, fees, operational figures, summary financial statements, and information on responsible sourcing and traceability contained in the published reports responds directly to the prescribed reporting parameters.

Be that as it may, the public still has opportunity under the Right to Information dispensation, to seek any additional information of interest to them.

The public has a further opportunity to undertake a more in-depth scrutiny of the operations of GoldBod when its activities and finances are audited and published in accordance with law and international accounting standards. The quarterly reports are not to be confused with annual audit reports, which contain much more detail than covered in the quarterly reports.

The GoldBod has a history of working collaboratively and constructively with fair-minded policy think tanks, analysts, and civil society actors in strengthening transparency within the natural resource governance space and takes this opportunity to assure all its stakeholders that it has no difficulty with public scrutiny.

Indeed, it considers such conversations helpful to the broader reform agenda in the gold ecosystem.

The GoldBod takes pride in its unparalleled achievements, acknowledged by industry experts, former government officials and seasoned policy analysts within the mining and financial sectors. These include:

• Reduction in smuggling, resulting in stabilised gold flows within the small-scale mining ecosystem.

• Its purchasing programme has significantly improved the quality, traceability, and accountability for ASM gold.

• It is actively supporting policy objectives relating to foreign exchange stability, sector formalisation, and improved transparency in gold trading.

The Ghana Gold Board wishes to assure Ghanaians that, it will continue to focus on its mandate, uphold statutory transparency requirements, and engage stakeholders constructively while delivering the results that Ghana’s mineral sector urgently needs.

It will continue to encourage public participation, and to value every contribution that strengthens Ghana’s mineral governance, but expectations must be align with the legal framework guiding the institution’s operations. Feedback on the entity’s reports should be directed to the CEO of the GoldBod and to the Minister of Finance as prescribed by law.