Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Hon. Patrick Boamah, has raised red flags over what he describes as unfair and opaque pricing practices by the Ghana Gold Board (Goldbod), warning that the current system threatens the survival of the local gold mining sector.
Mr. Boamah accused Goldbod and the government of undermining fair play and transparency in the gold trade, citing three major concerns that demand urgent answers.
According to the legislator, Goldbod’s decision to use the interbank exchange rate in valuing gold daily is a ‘rip-off’ for miners. He argued that no commodity is traded using the interbank rate, not even the government’s own foreign currency transactions, making the policy both unfair and exploitative.
He alleged that the Bank of Ghana is complicit, deliberately pegging the interbank rate below Bloomberg’s USD reference rate, thereby ‘short-changing miners and weakening their investments.’
The Okaikwei Central MP also questioned the rationale behind Goldbod’s practice of issuing two gold prices each day, describing it as economically illogical and non-transparent.
“Which commodity in the same market, for the same players, is sold at dual prices?” he asked, suggesting the move was a deliberate attempt to obscure the true value of gold in Ghana.
He added that if Goldbod could afford to pay miners bonuses, then the institution should have no excuse not to declare and pay the correct market price outright.
Hon Patrick Boamah further accused the government of deploying national security operatives to intimidate miners and traders, describing the move as an attempt to enforce a flawed and opaque pricing regime through fear.
“As a result, gold trading is now conducted under the cover of darkness and secrecy. Is this the ‘Reset’ that President John Mahama promised?” he quizzed.
The MP warned that the small-scale mining sector, largely sustained by Ghanaian entrepreneurs, faces collapse if the government fails to reverse Goldbod’s pricing and enforcement strategies.
He urged the government to come clean on its gold pricing policies and prioritise transparency to restore confidence in the industry.
