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Minority replies Sammy Gyamfi, demands accountability over GH¢22bn GoldBod loss
The Minority in Parliament has renewed its call for accountability over a reported GH¢22 billion loss under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) in 2025.
The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, made the call in a statement issued on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, in response to comments by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi.
The Minority said the GoldBod’s response to its earlier concerns did not disprove the reported loss but instead confirmed some of the figures it had raised.
According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported a loss of US$1.7 billion, equivalent to about GH¢22 billion, under the DGPP in its August 2026 Sixth Country Report.
He argued that regardless of which government institution bears responsibility for the loss, the money involved was public funds and must be accounted for.
The Minority also questioned GoldBod’s reported operational surplus of GH¢907 million.
It noted that, according to the GoldBod CEO, the institution accounted for about GH¢133 billion in advances under the programme in 2025 and received an assay fee of 0.258 per cent and a service fee of 0.5 per cent.
Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that these fees generated about GH¢1 billion for GoldBod.
He therefore questioned how the institution could describe its GH¢907 million operational surplus as a major achievement when the programme under which the fees were earned reportedly resulted in a GH¢22 billion loss to the state.
The Minority Leader further argued that GoldBod could not claim credit for the benefits of the DGPP while distancing itself from the reported financial losses.
He noted that GoldBod had been associated with claims that the programme contributed to a 41 per cent appreciation of the cedi, an increase in Ghana’s reserves from US$8.9 billion to US$13 billion and a reduction in inflation.
According to him, an institution that takes credit for such outcomes must also be prepared to account for the costs associated with the programme.
The Minority also raised concerns about the funding arrangements for the Gold for Reserves and related programmes.
It said, based on the GoldBod CEO’s account, responsibility for the implementation cost of the Ghana Alternative Reserves and Assets Programme (GANRAP) shifted from the Bank of Ghana to the Ministry of Finance in July 2026, while GoldBod was seeking to raise funds independently from August.
Mr Afenyo-Markin described the changes as evidence that the funding model was yet to be settled.
He therefore called for the reported GH¢22 billion loss to be properly accounted for, insisting that the matter concerned the finances of the Republic.
The Minority Leader also criticised comments attributed to the GoldBod CEO during his response, particularly a reference to a brothel.
He argued that such language was inappropriate for a public official responding to questions about the management of public funds.
“Ghanaians asked for figures. They were given insults. The figures are still outstanding,” Mr Afenyo-Markin stated.
The Minority said it would continue to demand answers on the financial and operational performance of GoldBod and the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
By: Jacob Aggrey
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The 30th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards has celebrated three decades of recognising excellence and contributions to journalism and national development, while highlighting the media’s role in Ghana’s democracy.
Marking the milestone, Philip Osei Bonsu of the Multimedia Group emerged as the GJA/P.A.V. Ansah Journalist of the Year.
The Ghanaian Times’ Benedicta Gyimah Foley won the Best Feature Reporting, Print category, alongside other journalists recognised across various media platforms.
Other winners included Nathaniel Attoh, Best in Sports Reporting; and Godwin Asediba of Media General, Best in TV Documentary; Doreen Ampofo of GBC, Best in Radio Documentary; and freelance journalist Nii Adjei Mensahfio, Best in Online Documentary.
Daniel Kwabena Mantey was adjudged Best in TV Feature, while Clinton Yeboah of Luv FM won Best in Radio Feature, with Gilbert Azeem Tiroog of GNA taking Best in Online Features.
For news reporting, Mohammed Fugu of the Daily Graphic won Best in Print News Reporting, Nabil Ahmed Rufai, a freelance journalist, Best in TV News Reporting; Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman of EIB Network, Best in Radio News Reporting; and Timothy Ngnenbe of the Daily Graphic, Best in Online News.
The ceremony, held in Accra last Saturday on the theme, “Celebrating Excellence, Advancing Media Freedom and Combating Hate Speech in the Digital Age”, was attended by President John Dramani Mahama as the special guest of honour.
Also in attendance were the Ga Mantse, King Tackie Teiko Tsuru II, and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, among others.
In his address, President Mahama announced a GH₵10 million allocation in the 2027 national budget as seed capital for the reactivated Media Development Fund to support journalists’ welfare, professional development, investigative reporting and safety training, with additional corporate contributions expected.
Mr Mahama, also urged media practitioners to uphold professionalism and accuracy by avoiding sensationalism, unsubstantiated allegations and the deliberate pursuit of scandals, while promptly correcting inaccurate reports and apologising when necessary to maintain public trust and professional standards.
On journalists’ safety, he assured that the government would continue to act against attacks on them.
By Stephanie Birikorang
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Today, I focus on the theme of Ghanaian/African migrants in Finland and economic empowerment, a move away from the topic of personalities or groups and their accomplishments within the Ghanaian community in Finland that I have been writing on.
In recent times, African migrant associations and Finnish institutions are organising meetings or forums and help people seeking employment to meet employers or build professional networks to achieve economic empowerment.
Such forums are usually open to their members and anyone of African descent.to get into the Finnish job market.
Competences
Researchers and experts say entrepreneurship or self-employment has great potential to offer a route for migrants, including highly-educated ones, to participate in and contribute to the local economy.
Competences, including knowledge and knowhow, opportunities, and social capital such as family support, language, etc., are necessary to boost the entrepreneurship endeavour.
Competence in the official Finnish or Swedish languages is undoubtedly a key quality to improve employment prospects, especially for migrants since the overall unemployment among migrants could be higher than in the mainstream Finnish population.
There could also be particular privileges which may be the provision of the right information for potential entrepreneurs or job seekers.
Barriers and stress factors
Although language has a huge potential to contribute positively to entrepreneurship possibilities, studies have shown that some of the major stress factors are language problems, finances or economic capital among African migrants.
Other barriers or challenges may be how to grow the business venture or its sustainability.
Thus, migrant communities can generally be highly vulnerable to language barrier, lack of information, the nature of the work of migrants in professions where working from home is not possible.
Migrant associations, social networks, and information
By their activities, migrant associations are doing much to educate and create awareness as well as enhance economic empowerment through migrants’ entrepreneurship or self-employment and enhance opportunities.
Such associations and institutions become networks that create an important social capital as well as outlets for sharing and gaining information or knowledge. Also, it will all be for societal good if such activities are able to help reduce stress and anxiety in the migrants’ entrepreneurship endeavours.
As I keep pointing out, Finland is committed to the integration of migrants into the Finnish society. A number of research studies from surveys and other in-depth enquiries have shown a trend of increasing efforts to integrate African and other migrants into the Finnish society.
Public agencies, migrant associations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Finland have been publishing information to help educate people, which is also good for their wellbeing.
Generally, migrant associations formally create awareness among their members and other migrants usually in collaboration with some Finnish institutions, and are thus an important tool for several migrants to be positively active and to get their interests and claims heard.
As I wrote previously, the role of migrant associations acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
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