There is a deliberate smear campaign against GoldBod from Minority – Sammy Gyamfi

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has accused the Minority in Parliament of conducting a deliberate smear campaign against the institution over claims that it incurred a US$1.7 billion loss in 2025.

Sammy Gyamfi said the claim was based on a misinterpretation of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP).

The controversy followed claims by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin that the IMF had reported that GoldBod incurred losses of about US$1.7 billion, equivalent to roughly GH¢22 billion, in 2025.

Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, August 22, the GoldBod CEO said the distinction between GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana was central to the controversy.

“There is a difference between constructive criticism by opponents or critical voices and a deliberate, malicious disinformation campaign, a deliberate smear campaign, not grounded on facts or issues, but intended to denigrate personalities and institutions and demonize them in the eyes of right thinking members of society,” he said.

Sammy Gyamfi cited the IMF’s report on Ghana’s sixth review under the Extended Credit Facility, saying it did not state that GoldBod itself had incurred a US$1.7 billion loss.

He said the relevant section of the report referred to losses generated by the DGPP and their impact on the Bank of Ghana, rather than describing them as losses incurred by GoldBod.

“This right here is the relevant portion of the IMF's sixth and final review of Ghana's Extended Credit Facility, which they published a few weeks ago, and if you check page 27, paragraph 50, nowhere do they say in this report that the GoldBod has incurred a loss of 1.7 billion dollars,” Sammy Gyamfi said.

The GoldBod CEO also referred to another IMF report which, according to him, showed that losses under the DGPP were recorded before GoldBod was established.

He said the IMF had reported losses of about US$400 million in 2024, when the programme was being operated by the Bank of Ghana, before the significant scaling-up of domestic gold purchases in 2025.