Amoah: Minority’s Questions on GoldBod Are Legitimate and Necessary

Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has urged the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to take concerns raised by the Minority in good faith and avoid unnecessarily antagonising Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo‑Markin.

According to Mr Amoah, the Minority is performing its constitutional oversight role by questioning GoldBod’s operations and giving government an opportunity to respond to the issues raised.

He said the ongoing debate should focus on addressing substantive matters rather than escalating personal exchanges between political actors and officials.

“I think that GoldBod should take this in good faith. Don’t antagonize the minority leader unnecessarily,” he said.

Speaking on The Big Issues on Saturday, August 22, 2026, Mr Amoah said the Minority’s scrutiny of GoldBod was consistent with the opposition’s responsibility to highlight concerns about government programmes.

“It’s good that the Minority is playing that role that you expect of an opposition party, where they raise the issues, draw people’s attention to the issues, and then you can have some of the issues addressed,” he noted.

His comments come amid controversy over GoldBod’s operations, with the Minority alleging that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme has resulted in losses of about $1.7 billion.

Mr Amoah said the concerns raised had already prompted changes in government’s approach to financing GoldBod, describing the shift as a sign of progress.

He pointed out that government had indicated GoldBod would no longer be funded from the Bank of Ghana’s vault but would instead receive separate financing.

“We seem to be carving a certain path that is healthy, except that along the trail have come some issues that would need to be addressed,” he said.

Mr Amoah urged GoldBod to view the criticism as an opportunity to identify and resolve weaknesses in the programme rather than treating the concerns as an attack.

“It is his job as a Minority to bring these matters to the fore,” he said, referring to Mr Afenyo‑Markin.

He added that GoldBod Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi also had a responsibility to explain the institution’s position and clarify issues surrounding its operations.

“It is the job, indeed, of Sammy Gyamfi to also explain from where he sits what exactly has been done, and I don’t see any wrong being done on his part,” he said.

— CitiNewsRoom