World Bank findings strengthen call for GoldBod probe – Jerry Ahmed 

The Minority in Parliament has renewed its call for a full parliamentary inquiry into the operations of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and the Bank of Ghana (BoG), citing fresh concerns raised by the World Bank over fiscal risks linked to the programme.

The call was made by the Second Deputy Minority Whip and Weija-Gbawe MP, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, who said the World Bank’s latest assessment reinforces concerns previously raised by the Minority over reported losses under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

The Minority’s push follows a motion admitted by Speaker Alban Bagbin for parliamentary scrutiny of the reported US$1.7 billion loss.

The Speaker of Parliament, in admitting the motion, said the inquiry should establish whether the amount represents an actual financial loss or a policy cost.

“The World Bank’s latest findings only strengthen that case. They are further proof, from yet another independent institution, that Ghanaians are entitled to the truth behind these losses,” Ahmed Shaib said in a statement issued on Wednesday, September 9.

He cited the World Bank’s 10th Ghana Economic Update, which identifies quasi-fiscal pressures linked to GoldBod-related operations, COCOBOD, the energy sector and state-owned enterprises as significant and insufficiently monitored fiscal risks.

The MP also pointed to the IMF’s assessment that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme incurred losses equivalent to 15.3% of gross gold purchases in 2025, with high service fees, assay charges, trading margins, off-taking costs and foreign-exchange spreads among the factors identified.

He demanded full disclosure of GoldBod’s off-takers, discounts and fees, as well as clarity on whether GoldBod or the BoG bore specific losses arising from the transactions.

“Where are the off-takers? What discounts were applied to our gold, and who approved them? What fees changed hands, and who ultimately bore the losses?” he asked.

The New Patriotic Party lawmaker further called for public disclosure of contingent liabilities linked to the programme, transparent accounting for gold reserves and a clear government plan to address the fiscal risks identified by both the IMF and World Bank, amid GoldBod’s continuing role in foreign-exchange generation and reserve accumulation.