Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, has rejected claims that the institution has incurred a $1.7 billion loss, describing the allegation by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin as politically motivated and without basis.
Mr Gyamfi said he remained unfazed by suggestions that he could face arrest and onerous bail conditions, insisting that his record at GoldBod would ultimately speak for itself.
The Minority Leader had alleged that GoldBod had suffered the loss and suggested that Mr Gyamfi could face difficult bail conditions if he were arrested.
But responding during the Government Accountability Series, Mr Gyamfi dismissed the concerns and said he was prepared for political attacks because of his involvement in public service.
“When you are involved in politics, you are involved in boxing. You should be ready for tackles and punches, and some of us are vaccinated against political mischief. We’ve taken the vaccine so we are not worried at all,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi questioned why he should be subjected to onerous bail conditions when, according to him, the former chairman of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) board was not facing similar conditions despite the utility recording an GH¢8.2 billion loss during his tenure.
He contrasted that situation with what he described as GoldBod’s achievements under his leadership, including the formal export of 170 tonnes of gold and the generation of more than $17 billion in inflows into the country over a period of one and a half years.
Mr Gyamfi also pointed to developments in Ghana’s gold refining and value-addition capacity as evidence of changes under his tenure.
He said more than nine metric tonnes of gold purchased by GoldBod had been refined in Ghana in 2026 alone, contrasting this with the previous situation where, he claimed, no gold was refined locally under the former administration.
“Under your tenure, not a gram of gold was refined in Ghana. Today, over 9 metric tonnes in just this year of gold we have bought have been refined in Ghana. We are changing the value addition story,” he said.
The GoldBod CEO described the $1.7 billion loss allegation as reckless and said it should not be taken seriously.
“Such statements are reckless. They are what I call the fanciful effusions of a palmwine bar. You take it as comic relief,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi maintained that he was not intimidated by the prospect of political or legal attacks and expressed confidence that the performance of GoldBod would provide the strongest defence of his tenure.
“I will go to prison in his brain and have onerous bail terms in his brain. I’m not afraid of any intimidation tactics because we are serving Ghana in good conscience and our results and posterity will speak for us,” he said.
His comments come amid heightened political debate over the performance and financial management of GoldBod, with the opposition raising questions about the institution’s operations and the government defending its record in the gold sector.
