Dr Emmanuel Steve Asare Manteaw, a Policy analyst and communication strategist, has claimed that all the attacks on GoldBod are because of the Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi.
According to Dr Manteaw, the brouhaha around GoldBod is politically motivated and rooted in personal attacks against Sammy Gyamfi.
Dr Manteaw stressed that if anyone else were put in charge of the affairs of the Goldbod, all the noise would be gone.
He further urged Sammy Gyamfi not to be distracted by the few people making so much noise as he has the full support of the majority of Ghanaians.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Dr Manteaw stated, “He sounded a bit frustrated with what appears to be an attempt to demonise the institution”.
“I think the attack on the GoldBod is all because of Sammy Gyamfi. If you put another person there, all this noise will stop,” he stated.
He added, “It can be frustrating when you are doing something with the best of intentions, and you find people trying to distract you from your mission”.
“He’s a very smart guy. He’s doing a good job. He should remain focused. He’s got the majority of Ghanaians behind him and should not be distracted by the very few people making so much noise,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament, led by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, is demanding a bipartisan parliamentary probe into BoG-GoldBod $214m loss.
It must be noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised concerns over the reported losses of Goldbod.
The IMF described them as a potential risk to Ghana’s macroeconomic stability.
They further attributed the losses to transactions involving artisanal and small-scale mining, dore gold and referenced alleged “GoldBod off-taker fees.”
According to Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, they in the minority believes state money is being used to buy galamsey gold.
Addressing journalists in Accra on Monday, December 29, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah called for a bipartisan investigation into the operation of Goldbod.
He stated that a parliamentary ad-hoc committee should conduct a bipartisan investigation into all contracts, licenses, intermediaries, and related entities of the Goldbod.
He further noted that Ghana has lost $214 million, heading to $300million under the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Gold Board and urged the committee to call on the two institutions to disclose their fee structures, pricing formulas, aggregator selection criteria, and foreign exchange arrangements.
Speaking to journalists in Accra, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah stated, “We are demanding the following: a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry into the circumstances under which the Republic of Ghana has lost $214 million, heading to $300million, to be done here by the parliament of Ghana. We are asking for a parliamentary ad hoc investigative committee with the power to subpoena all contracts, licences, intermediaries, including this power rock monopoly.
“Under this bipartisan enquiry, we will be expecting the BoG and the GoldBod to publish the fee structure, the pricing formula, the aggregator selecting criteria and all foreign exchange arrangements that they have tied to this scheme, which has led to this loss.
“…One of the things we will be asking for is the suspension of permits in forest reserves and the introduction of serious measures on traceability because, as at now, we have every reason to believe that state money is being used to buy Galamsey gold…Where negligence or corruption is proven, prosecutions must follow, and all recoverable funds must be given back to the state,” Nkrumah stated.