Hon Abilolo's Take on the Ongoing Gold Trade Losses Saga

This matter should not be reduced to the usual NDC–NPP political scorekeeping. The numbers are too serious for that.

But since the NDC and its communicators have chosen to turn the issue into a battle of narratives, let us deal with the facts.

The IMF has established that Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme resulted in more than US$1.7 billion in losses for the Bank of Ghana in 2025. That is not an NPP invention. It is not a Dr Bawumia allegation. It is not propaganda from the opposition. It is an IMF finding.

So when GoldBod and its defenders rush to tell Ghanaians that GoldBod's own books recorded a profit, I ask: So what?

GoldBod recording a surplus does not magically erase the cost incurred by the Bank of Ghana.

This is where I believe Ghanaians must be careful not to allow accounting semantics to become political deception.

Whether the cost is ultimately reflected on the books of the Bank of Ghana, GoldBod, or elsewhere within the public sector does not make the underlying economic cost disappear.

Changing the book does not change the burden.

The real questions are therefore much bigger than “Which books recorded the loss?”

Who paid for the gold?
At what exchange rate was it purchased?
What caused the enormous spread between the purchase and eventual realisation values?

How much was consumed by service fees, assay charges, trading margins and other costs?

Who benefited from those fees and margins?

Were these costs reasonable?
Could Ghana have accumulated the same reserves at a substantially lower cost?

And most importantly, who ultimately bears the consequences when the Bank of Ghana's balance sheet is weakened by such losses?

Because the Bank of Ghana is not Sammy Gyamfi's private company.

It is not GoldBod's private company.

It belongs to Ghana.
And when the balance sheet of the central bank is weakened, the consequences do not disappear because somebody says, “Our books made a profit.” Ultimately, the Ghanaian state and the taxpayer remain exposed to the consequences of public-sector losses.

There is another uncomfortable fact for the government's defenders.

The IMF indicates that the cost of the programme was initially about 15.3% of gross gold purchases, and that government is now working to bring this down substantially, with a target of 5%.

Dare I ask a very simple question:
If everything was as efficient and financially sound as the government wants us to believe, why is the programme's cost being aggressively reduced from 15.3% towards 5%?

That question deserves an answer, especially from Sammy Gyamfi!

And let us also stop pretending that the existence of a macroeconomic benefit automatically makes every cost incurred justified and acceptable. Yes, the gold programme contributed to reserve accumulation and supported Ghana's external position. That is worth acknowledging.

But a policy can produce a benefit and still be excessively expensive.

A government must therefore account not only for what it achieved, but also for what it cost the Ghanaian people to achieve it.

That is the conversation the NDC would rather avoid.

Instead, we are being taken into the weeds of whose financial statements should carry what figure.

That is classic political diversion by the masters of propaganda and deceitful narratives.

Yes indeed, the letter may say “profit.” Yet indeed, the economic reality still demands an explanation for the US$1.7 billion cost identified by the IMF.

So Sammy Gyamfi and the NDC should stop running from the substance of the matter and hiding behind accounting classifications.

All we Ghanaians deserve to know:
Why the cost was so high?
Who benefited?
Who approved it?
Was it value for money?
And who ultimately carries the burden?
Until those questions are answered convincingly, no amount of shouting “GoldBod made a profit!” will make the US$1.7 billion finding disappear.

And you see, this is not even about whose political colours we wear.

It is purely about accountability for Ghana's money that relies solely on loans with very harsh conditions for us all.

May the light of God continue to shine on every evil deed done with Ghana's resources, regardless of who is responsible.

Michael A. Sarfo-Kantanka
maskant25@yahoo.com

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