GoldBod's Transparency: Addressing small-scale gold buying and illegal mining

Recent remarks made by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, during his concluding debate on the 2026 Budget have sparked public discourse around the role of the Ghana Gold Board in Ghana’s gold ecosystem.

While public debate is healthy for democracy, it is equally important that the conversation is anchored in fact, not conjecture.

The allegations that GoldBod is engaging in, enabling, or laundering proceeds of illegal mining (galamsey) are not only inaccurate, but they also fundamentally misrepresent the mandate, actions, and track record of the institution.

GoldBod’s small-scale gold purchasing program does not, and has never, targeted illegal miners.

Ghana’s laws already distinguish clearly between licensed small-scale mining, a legitimate economic activity contributing significantly to national development, and illegal mining, which is unregulated, destructive, and criminal. GoldBod purchases only from licensed, verifiable, and legally recognised small-scale entities.

Every gram purchased goes through documentary, physical, and compliance checks. To suggest that GoldBod is “purchasing gold it cannot trace” is simply false.

It must also be clarified that NAIMOS (the National Anti-Illicit Mining Operations Secretariat) is not a creation or subsidiary of GoldBod.

NAIMOS exists under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as the government’s operational unit to combat illegal mining.

What is true and is a matter of public record is that GoldBod has provided logistical and financial support to strengthen NAIMOS’ nationwide enforcement.

A few months ago, GoldBod donated vehicles and operational cash to enhance the work of NAIMOS.

An institution genuinely interested in supporting illegal mining would not fund or equip the very body established to fight it.

This is why GoldBod finds the Minority Leader’s statement that “the NDC government through GoldBod is financing illegal mining” deeply unfortunate.

It ignores the concrete, measurable actions taken in the fight against illegal mining.

It also dismisses the integrity of the policy direction set by the institution’s leadership.

At the Dubai Precious Metals Conference, the CEO of GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, Esq., stated unequivocally that “no volume of gold is worth a human life.

The lives and sustainable future of our people are far more important.” This statement was not political theatre; it reflects the ethos guiding GoldBod’s operations.

A leader who publicly rejects sacrificing human lives and environmental sustainability for revenue cannot, by any stretch of logic, preside over an institution financing illegal mining. The contradiction speaks for itself.

Furthermore, GoldBod has already announced that in 2026, a robust Blockchain Track and Trace System will be fully operational.

This system, designed with the best international practices, will use digital documentation, GPS-based verification, miner identification, and real-time monitoring to trace gold from pit to refinery.

This reform is not a reaction to criticism; it is part of a transformational roadmap already in motion.

GoldBod believes that responsible mining is the foundation on which Ghana must build its mineral future, and technology is central to achieving that goal.

Ghana indeed has suffered losses in the battle against illegal mining: lives, rivers, forests, and communities.

But accusing an institution that is evidently strengthening enforcement, deepening transparency, and supporting anti-illegal-mining operations does nothing to honour those sacrifices.

It only distracts from the national fight we must all unite behind.

The Ghana Gold Board remains committed to protecting Ghana’s minerals, its people, and its future.

Assertions may come and go, but facts remain permanent, and the facts show that GoldBod is building a cleaner, more transparent, more responsible gold industry.

What the nation needs now is collaboration, not misconceptions; accuracy, not alarmism; and above all, a united commitment to safeguarding the future of Ghana’s mineral wealth.