Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Minority Leader in Parliament, has announced that the Minority Caucus will pursue a full parliamentary inquiry into the reported GH¢22 billion loss associated with the Bank of Ghana's Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP). The Minority Leader made this statement in a Facebook post on Saturday, August 22, as a response to the escalating war of words between the Minority Leader and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi.
Minority Leader Demands Transparency in Gold Programme
According to Mr. Afenyo-Markin, the Minority will focus on establishing how the reported US$1.7 billion loss arose, the institutions and individuals involved in the transactions, and the financial decisions that resulted in the loss. The Minority wants details of the transactions, including the identities of the off-takers, discounts applied to gold purchases, and the authority under which such discounts were approved.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin emphasized that the IMF's reported figure raised a number of questions that, in his view, required answers in the public interest. He said that Ghanaians are entitled to know who the off-takers were, what discounts were applied to their purchases, on whose authority those discounts were approved, and what fees were earned from the transactions.
Breakdown of Reported Loss Demanded
The Minority Leader also stated that the Minority wants the reported loss broken down to establish the specific factors that contributed to it. They are equally entitled to a full disaggregation of the US$1.7 billion: how much arose from foreign-exchange differentials; how much resulted from the prices at which GoldBod bought and sold the gold; and what considerations informed the management decisions behind those transactions.
Putting Evidence in Public Domain
Mr. Afenyo-Markin said that the Minority intended to put the questions and supporting evidence before Parliament and the public rather than rely on political claims or personal assertions. He added that the Minority will publish its sources and place the information before the public to enable Ghanaians to assess the evidence for themselves. The Minority Leader emphasized that the questions belong in the public record and that the Minority will continue to place them there, in writing and with their sources published, so that every Ghanaian can examine the evidence and arrive at an informed judgment.
Personal Dispute Set Aside
Mr. Afenyo-Markin also disclosed that he intended to pursue legal remedies over statements he described as defamatory. However, he sought to distinguish the personal dispute from the Minority's substantive concerns about the gold programme. He emphasized that his attention, and that of the Caucus he leads, remains firmly focused on the programme, the decisions taken, and the public funds involved.
What's Next
The latest development is likely to intensify calls for greater disclosure around the DGPP, particularly concerning the pricing of gold, off-take arrangements, foreign exchange exposures, fees, and the decision-making processes behind the transactions. As the Minority Caucus pursues a full parliamentary inquiry, it remains to be seen how the government will respond to the demands for transparency and accountability in the gold programme.
Source: Joy Online
