The Minority in Parliament is considering filing a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Ghana Gold Board Act, following what it describes as structural flaws that are costing the state significant revenue on every gold purchase transaction.
Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, raised the prospect during a stakeholder engagement with the Ghana Employers Association on March 31, days after Parliament’s Majority caucus blocked a Minority motion seeking a full investigation into the Gold-for-Reserves programme, dismissing the reported losses as routine operational costs.
Oppong Nkrumah said the current structure of the Gold Board contains fundamental design flaws, chief among them the conflation of regulatory and commercial functions within a single body. “Don’t mix the role of the regulator with the role of the trader. Because if you do, you may end up funding regulatory functions in ways that you shouldn’t,” he said.
He disclosed that under the existing arrangement, the state is losing approximately 15 percent of every $10 million released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to the Gold Board for gold purchases, absorbed by handling charges, assaying fees, bonuses, and other costs. The Minority has also raised concerns about a system in which government pays bonuses to gold dealers to discourage smuggling. “If you are going to have to pay a bonus to discourage people from smuggling, you’re going to lose money,” he said.
Oppong Nkrumah had earlier alleged that for every $10 million released by the BoG in 2025, approximately 15 percent was lost to handling and transactional charges, figures he argued warranted thorough investigation.
The Ofoase-Ayirebi lawmaker said the Minority had already offered reform proposals that were largely ignored, and was now exploring legislative alternatives. “If it is possible for us to come by a private member’s bill to get amendments, we’ll explore that. If we cannot do it by a private member’s bill and we have to wait for the next NPP administration to make those corrections, then we’ll make those corrections,” he said.
He added that the NPP, having initiated the Gold Board programme, understood its weaknesses and intended to correct them at the next opportunity, particularly in the interest of private sector operators in the gold value chain.
