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IMANI, partners call for full audit of Gold-for-Oil programme.
IMANI Africa and a group of oversight organisations say Ghana’s Gold-for-Oil programme has lost the country billions of cedis through weak controls and possible corruption.
In a statement issued in Accra on Monday, the policy think tank said an international forensic review of the scheme found “serious governance failures, fiscal leakages and potential illicit financial flows.”
The programme was meant to use Ghana’s gold to pay for imported fuel and stabilise foreign exchange reserves.
But IMANI said the review showed it was badly managed and created “corridors for revenue loss and illicit enrichment.”
According to the group, the gold part of the programme ran without proper contracts between the Bank of Ghana and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company.
It said this allowed weak pricing controls, secret exchange rate practices and smuggling of gold.
IMANI also said about GHS 7.5 billion in tax exemptions were granted on fuel imports but poor tracking meant the state may have lost GHS 7.2 billion in revenue.
It added that some of the international suppliers chosen for the scheme had opaque ownership and links to high-risk trading networks.
The group called for all contracts, pricing benchmarks and audits to be published regularly to improve transparency.
It warned that any delay in taking action would amount to complicity.
Former National Economic Dialogue chair Dr. Ishmael Evans Yamson said the revelations showed how some people in government had worked with local and foreign actors to “undermine Ghana’s development efforts” and called for tough action.
IMANI president Franklin Cudjoe said the findings confirmed the think tank’s fears that the programme had been “systematically weaponised against the state.”
He urged the government to carry out a full vessel-by-vessel and ounce-by-ounce audit, recover lost money, and prosecute those responsible.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Thomas Partey, Ransford Yeboah Königsdörffer, Kojo Oppong Peprah, and Alexander Djiku trained with the Black Stars on Tuesday, March 23 as preparations intensify for the international friendly against Austria on Friday.
The newly arrived players—Partey, Königsdörffer, Oppong Peprah and Djiku—joined the group training Tuesday afternoon in readiness for the match.
Partey and Djiku bring valuable experience and dexterity to the team, having played a major role in securing Ghana a spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Canada, and the United States of America.
All 25 players participated in Tuesday’s training session, each aiming to catch the eye of head coach Otto Addo.
The full squad present at training included Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Benjamin Asare, Joseph Anang, Patrick Pfeiffer, Derrick Luckassen, Derrick Kohn, Jerome Opoku, Caleb Yirenkyi, Kojo Oppong Peprah, Jonas Adjetey, Marvin Senaya, Gideon Mensah, Elisha Owusu, Ibrahim Sulemana, Kwasi Sibo, Jordan Ayew, Prince Kwabena Adu, Christopher Bonsu Baah, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Antoine Semenyo, Kamal Deen Sulemana, Daniel Agyei, Thomas Partey, Alexander Djiku, and Ransford Yeboah Königsdörffer.
Training will continue on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of the match on Friday, March 27, 2026.
The Kadjebi District Police Command, through a sustained intelligence-led operation, has arrested a suspect, Chalim Madzaton, also known as Peter Tano, 36, a farmer.
He was apprehended at his hideout in Kpaya, a suburb of Ahamansu, in connection with the murder of 80-year-old Dakolor Semaka.
On March 24, 2026, police received a report that the suspect had allegedly attacked his girlfriend, Yaa Tugbenyo, 55, and her mother, the deceased, at their residence in Mangoase near Kadjebi During the incident, Yaa Tugbenyo managed to escape but later returned to find her mother lying motionless on the floor.
Police Officers visited the scene and found the body of the deceased lying in a supine positior with isible signs of violence.
The scene was processed, and photographs were taken for evidential purpose.
The deceased was pronounced dead by a medical officer at St. Mary Theresa Hospital and the body has since been deposited at the hospital’s morgue for preservation and autopsy.
The suspect is currently in Police custody assisting with investigations and will be arraigned before court.
