Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has censured Ghana Gold Board Chief Executive Sammy Gyamfi for resorting to pejorative language while addressing parliamentary concerns over the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, asserting that public accountability cannot be supplanted by invective.
The confrontation followed Gyamfi’s appearance at the government’s Accountability Series where he dismissed the Minority’s critique, declaring that GoldBod does not “take moral lessons from the brothel.” Afenyo-Markin responded that such diction is incompatible with the responsibilities of a public officer. “The Chief Executive’s reference to a brothel does not belong in a statement issued by a Public Officer accounting for public funds,” he stated. “Ghanaians asked for figures. They were given insults. The figures are still outstanding.”
The dispute emanates from an International Monetary Fund assessment which indicated that the Bank of Ghana’s DGPP, implemented through GoldBod, recorded losses exceeding one point seven billion dollars in 2025. The Minority maintains that the equivalent of twenty-two billion cedis constitutes a fiscal exposure to the Republic and warrants comprehensive reconciliation, irrespective of which institution ultimately carries the liability on its balance sheet.
Afenyo-Markin further contended that GoldBod cannot selectively appropriate the programme’s perceived benefits while disclaiming its costs. He referenced claims linking the DGPP to cedi appreciation, reserve accumulation and disinflation, arguing that authorship of gains must be accompanied by ownership of deficits. The Minority Leader also questioned the institution’s fluid funding architecture, noting successive shifts in implementation responsibility within a compressed period as evidence of an unsettled operational model.
Beyond the fiscal arithmetic, the exchange highlights enduring questions of governance, transparency and decorum in the management of quasi-fiscal vehicles. With legislative scrutiny anticipated when Parliament reconvenes, the Minority intends to pursue motions compelling GoldBod’s management to provide a full disclosure of the programme’s financial implications and to delineate institutional responsibility with precision.
The episode underscores a broader imperative for measured public discourse amid complex economic policy. As pressure mounts for clarity on the DGPP’s sustainability, the emphasis will shift toward verifiable data, institutional coherence and adherence to standards of accountability expected of custodians of public resources.
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Author: Korkor Anumu
