NDC’s GoldBod is a copy of NPP’s plan but implementation has failed — Ocquaye Jr

Former Dome-Kwabenya parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mike Ocquaye Jr, has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of adopting the NPP’s concept for the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and failing to implement it effectively.

According to him, the GoldBod proposal contained in the NDC’s 2024 manifesto was focused on regulating and restructuring small-scale mining.

Speaking on Accra-based Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme on Thursday, August 20, the former MP hopeful said the NPP had proposed a broader gold purchasing programme aimed at strengthening Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves and supporting macroeconomic stability.

He said the NPP’s proposal under then-Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was to consolidate Ghana’s gold purchasing arrangements and expand the programme to support the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

“When the NDC talked about it in their manifesto, you know what they talked about? The NDC said that they are going to do a Ghana Gold Board to regulate and restructure small-scale mining. Finish. That's what is contained there,” he said.

Mr Ocquaye argued that the NDC later incorporated aspects of the NPP’s proposal into its own GoldBod policy.

He said the NPP had already proposed using domestic gold purchases to strengthen the country’s reserves and anchor the cedi and broader macroeconomic stability.

He further accused the governing party of taking the NPP’s concept without properly understanding how to implement it.

“When you copy a concept, you cannot implement properly,” Mr Ocquaye said.

Mr Ocquaye’s comments come amid an ongoing debate over the performance of GoldBod and its contribution to Ghana’s economy.

The NPP Minority Caucus in Parliament has accused the statutory body of recording a loss of &1.7 billion, a claim that has been firmly denied by the Chief Executive Officer of the GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi.