News
Minority’s concerns over GoldBod’s GH¢22 billion loss not political – Afenyo-Markin
Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has maintained that the Minority’s concerns over the reported GH¢22 billion loss linked to the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) are not politically motivated.
He made the remarks at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, where he defended the Minority’s position on the financial implications of GoldBod’s domestic gold purchasing operations.
Mr Afenyo-Markin stated that the Minority was raising the concerns because Ghanaians deserved clear information about how public funds were used in the gold purchasing programme.
He explained that the figures being cited by the Minority were contained in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) report on Ghana and were therefore not figures manufactured by the opposition.
According to him, the IMF identified losses of about US$1.7 billion, equivalent to approximately GH¢22 billion, from the domestic gold purchasing programme in 2025.
He said the IMF attributed the losses to service and assay fees, discounts on gold sold to off-takers and exchange-rate differences between the rates used to purchase gold and the reference rate used by the Bank of Ghana for accounting purposes.
Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that the losses should be subjected to public scrutiny because GoldBod played a central role in buying, aggregating, assaying and exporting the gold, while the Bank of Ghana provided the financing.
He questioned why GoldBod should receive fees from the transactions while the associated losses were reflected on the books of the Bank of Ghana.
The Minority Leader stressed that the location of a loss in an institution’s accounts did not change its economic impact on the country.
He therefore called for answers on the prices paid for gold, how the prices were determined, the selection of off-takers, discounts applied to gold sales and the fees earned by GoldBod.
Mr Afenyo-Markin questioned the risk-sharing arrangement between GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana, arguing that the institution carrying out the commercial activity should not be able to benefit from transaction fees while another institution bears most of the financial risk.
He said the Minority was not seeking to trade insults with GoldBod officials but was focused on holding institutions accountable for the management of public resources.
He urged the government and GoldBod to address the concerns raised by the IMF and provide Ghanaians with clear explanations about the reported losses.
Mr Afenyo-Markin maintained that the Minority would continue to scrutinise the programme because the financial consequences ultimately affected Ghanaian taxpayers.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Management and staff of Owass FM have announced the passing of media personality, comedian and politician Seth Kwame Dzokoto following a medical emergency during a live morning show discussion at the station earlier today.
According to the station, Dzokoto was participating in a panel discussion on its morning show “Oman Nkoso” when he suddenly took ill and collapsed.
A statement from the station said its team immediately rushed him to the hospital for medical attention, but he was pronounced dead by the attending medical doctor upon arrival.
“We are deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident, which occurred in the course of our regular programming. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, loved ones, colleagues, and all those who have been affected by his passing,” the statement said.
Management acknowledged that information about the incident is already circulating in the public domain, but appealed to the public and colleague media houses to respect the privacy of the bereaved family and refrain from circulating unverified information or speculation regarding the circumstances of his death.
Owass FM extended its heartfelt condolences to the family of Seth Kwame Dzokoto.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
The State through the Attorney General (AG) has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the suspension of the trial in the case of The Republic v Hanan Aludiba and Faiza Seidu.
On Monday, the Court of Appeal suspended the trial in the case. But the prosecution says it has filed an appeal against the suspension order.
According to the update, the law does not allow a criminal trial to be suspended simply because an accused person has complained about some of the charges on the charge sheet, particularly when those complaints were dismissed as meritless.
It argues that if the Court of Appeal’s decision is allowed to stand, no prosecution will ever be possible, since all it would take for a trial to be suspended is an accused person complaining about anything on the charge sheet.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
