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GoldBod made over $1.7bn loss from gold trading - Minority in Parliament alleges
The Minority in Parliament has accused Ghana's GoldBod of incurring over $1.7 billion in losses in 2025 under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, and is demanding accountability. GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi rejects the claim, citing the Auditor-General's report showing no losses, and has described the allegation as a 'barefaced lie'.
GoldBod CEO vs Minority Leader: The $1.7bn Loss Dispute
The Minority in Ghana's Parliament, led by Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has challenged the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to account for losses it alleges the state-owned gold-buying entity incurred through its gold trading operations in 2025. The Minority's demand, based on an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, puts the losses at over $1.7 billion, a figure GoldBod's CEO Sammy Gyamfi has categorically rejected.
The Minority's allegations
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, August 19, the Minority presented its case: the IMF report indicates the Bank of Ghana's Gold Purchase Programme recorded losses exceeding $1.7 billion (GH¢22 billion) in 2025. Afenyo-Markin questioned why GoldBod should take credit for forex gains while shifting losses to the central bank.
He demanded answers on off-takers, discounted sales, and fee arrangements, arguing that GoldBod took the Bank of Ghana's money to assay gold and collect fees while pushing the risks and losses onto the central bank.
"You cannot claim the upside of a trade and disown its downsides," Afenyo-Markin said, according to the Minority's account of the exchange. "This arrangement separates benefits from risks, leaving the central bank and, ultimately, the taxpayer, to bear the losses."
Afenyo-Markin also noted that the Bank of Ghana's equity was negative GH¢93.8 billion at the end of last year, describing the central bank's position as "technical bankruptcy," a phrase the Minority has used repeatedly in recent months. He called on GoldBod to account for off-takers, discounted sales, and fee arrangements tied to its operations.
The Minority Leader also expressed readiness to submit to any investigation by the Police and the Office of the Special Prosecutor, saying he had nothing to hide.
GoldBod's response: CEO rejects claims
GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi rejected the claims, saying the company's audited accounts show it recorded an operational surplus of GHC574 million in 2025 and not a loss.
"We have said this over and over: GoldBod did not make a loss in 2025. In fact, we recorded an operational surplus of GHC574 million," Gyamfi said at a press conference on Wednesday, August 19.
He said the IMF's report on Ghana's economy attributed the loss to the "scaling up" of the gold purchase programme, adding that the 2024 loss of $400 million was incurred by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and not GoldBod.
"In 2024, the Bank of Ghana bought gold through PMs and the loss was recorded by BoG. GoldBod did not exist in 2024." He said.
Gyanfi also dared Afenyo-Markin to sue him over his "extortion" comment, saying he was "ready to settle it in court" and described the Minority Leader's claims as "crass ignorance, disingenuous accounting, and deliberate misrepresentation of facts".
He added that the paid-out sums for assays, fees under the arrangement constituted less than 1% of the reported loss.
Auditor-General's report: no adverse findings
According to Gyamfi, the Auditor-General's report contained "no adverse findings" against the board, and the IMF report indicates the 2024 loss was not GoldBod's responsibility because the company did not exist in 2024. He noted that the 2024 loss of $400 million occurred when the Bank was using PMMC and other buying agents, before GoldBod was set up.
"Not a single adverse finding was made by the Auditor-General in his 2025 report on GoldBod. The IMF report also cannot be blamed on GoldBod because foreign exchange losses are driven by the cedi's depreciation against major currencies, particularly the dollar." Gyamfi said.
He dismissed Afenyo-Markin's claims as "disingenuous accounting," and challenged him to provide evidence for his assertions. He also said he was ready to face any investigative body, including parliament, to defend the company's record.
The Ghana Stock Exchange listed GoldBod on its unlisted platform in 2024. Its annual reports are public documents.
Correction: This article was updated on August 26, 2025 to reflect that Afenyo-Markin addressed the House during the recall of Parliament, not at an earlier sitting.
*This article was produced with research support from a technology company."
How each outlet told it
Asaase Radio
Framing: Headline focuses on negation of the summons report, emphasizing the denial. — Defensive and corrective, aiming to clarify the purpose of the caucus meeting.
Facts Included:
Afenyo-Markin rejected a report that he was summoned by NPP MPs over extortion claims.
He stated he had called the caucus meeting himself ahead of Parliament's reconvening.
He described the meeting as a regular practice of the NPP Parliamentary Caucus.
He demanded the publication be withdrawn and corrected.
The dispute forms part of the escalating conflict over losses associated with the DGPP.
Parliament reconvenes following a recall by Speaker Alban Bagbin.
Framing: Headline emphasizes the external audit as the main development, leaving out the details of the political dispute and the Minority's allegations. — Measured and procedural, focusing on the audit process rather than the conflict.
Facts Included:
The CEO of GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, revealed an external auditing firm is conducting a special audit of the DGPP from its inception in 2021.
The IMF report states the programme generated losses of GH₵22 billion, equivalent to 1.5% of Ghana’s GDP, in 2025.
The IMF report also stated that the Bank of Ghana incurred losses of $400 million in 2024 and $1.7 billion in 2025 through the DGPP.
The audit will cover the entire period of the programme, dating back to 2021, with results expected in the third quarter of 2026.
Gyamfi rejected claims that the IMF blamed GoldBod for the losses.
Framing: Headline emphasizes Gyamfi's dare to Afenyo-Markin to sue, focusing on the personal confrontation. — Combative and defensive, using strong personal language.
Facts Included:
Gyamfi challenged Afenyo-Markin to sue him over the 'extortionist' claim.
The dispute is over reported losses of GH¢22 billion (US$1.7 billion) associated with the DGPP in 2025.
Gyamfi accused Afenyo-Markin of a smear campaign and described him as a 'devious extortionist'.
Gyamfi said his use of 'extortion' was based on circumstances surrounding exchanges with the Minority Leader.
Gyamfi argued Afenyo-Markin had not challenged the allegation or threatened legal action.
Gyamfi proposed a joint media appearance with Afenyo-Markin.
Gyamfi maintained his comments were not an insult but reflected facts.
Framing: Headline emphasizes the Minority's demand for answers, focusing on accountability for the loss. — Accusatory and confrontational, quoting strong language from both sides.
Facts Included:
Minority Caucus called on GoldBod to account for $1.7 billion (GH¢22 billion) losses in 2025.
IMF's report on the DGPP indicated BoG accumulated gold and intermediated foreign exchange, leading to the loss.
Loss represents approximately 1.5% of Ghana's GDP.
Afenyo-Markin said the government accepted the IMF findings and warned of post-regime accountability.
Gyamfi responded by describing the allegations as 'blatant lies' and cited audited accounts showing operational surplus of GH¢907 million and overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion.
Gyamfi said the audit report was prepared by the Auditor-General and would fully respond at the Government Accountability Series.
Afenyo-Markin questioned the accounting arrangement, the fees collected by GoldBod, the off-takers, and the discounted sales.
Afenyo-Markin stated the BoG's equity was negative GH¢93.8 billion at the end of last year, negative 6.7% of GDP, calling the central bank 'technically bankrupt'.
Lost generation claims: GoldBod's purchasing, pricing, and sales decisions caused the losses.
Framing: Headline focuses on the filing of the defamation suit, leaving out the context of the extortion claim. — Assertive and legalistic, focusing on procedural response.
Facts Included:
Afenyo-Markin expressed readiness to submit to any investigation by the Ghana Police Service and the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
He stated he had filed a writ against Sammy Gyamfi and the Multimedia Group Limited at the Accra High Court, and one Eric Agyei and Peace FM at the Achimota Circuit Court.
He addressed the House during the recall of Parliament on Monday evening (Aug 24).
He emphasized he had chosen the high moral grounds to submit to the processes of the law.
Framing: Headline emphasizes GoldBod's surplus, directly contradicting the loss narrative. — Defensive and confrontational with a focus on factual rebuttal.
Facts Included:
Gyamfi rejected claims of $1.7 billion loss in 2025, calling it a 'barefaced lie'.
He presented audited Annual Report and Financial Statements for year ended December 31, 2025, prepared by the Auditor-General, showing operational surplus of GH¢907 million and overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion.
The overall surplus included GH¢4.5 billion revolving seed capital from the 2025 Budget.
The Auditor-General's report contained no adverse findings against GoldBod.
Gyamfi argued the IMF report did not accuse GoldBod of causing the losses.
He quoted the IMF as attributing the loss to 'scaling up' of the DGPP and factors like fees and exchange rate losses.
He explained GoldBod's role was as a buying agent under a Gold Purchase Agreement signed in September 2023, with no role in sales or pricing.
He noted the 2024 loss of $400 million occurred when GoldBod did not exist, using PMMC and Resafire.
He stated fees (assay 0.258% and service 0.5%) constituted less than 1% of the 17% loss.
He challenged the Minority Leader to invite him to Parliament and disclosed reaching out to the new Majority Leader James Agalga.
Afenyo-Markin maintained GoldBod must account for losses and warned of 'post-regime accountability'.
Framing: Headline states the loss allegation, focusing on the Minority's claim of the loss amount. — Accusatory and critical, using strong language about 'convenience' and 'disowning'.
Facts Included:
Minority challenged GoldBod to account for losses associated with its gold trading operations.
The IMF report indicated the DGPP recorded losses of more than $1.7 billion in 2025, equivalent to 1.5% of GDP.
The press conference was held on Tuesday, August 18, in Accra.
Afenyo-Markin questioned why GoldBod should take credit for forex while disowning losses.
He demanded answers on off-takers, discounted sales, and fee arrangements.
He argued GoldBod took BoG's money to assay gold and collect fees while pushing losses to BoG.
He said the arrangement separated benefits from risks, leaving the central bank and taxpayer to bear losses.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimSammy Gyamfi, CEO of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), revealed that an external auditing firm is conducting a special audit of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) from its inception in 2021.
ClaimThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) report states that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) generated losses of GH₵22 billion, equivalent to 1.5% of Ghana’s GDP, in 2025.
ClaimThe IMF report states that the Bank of Ghana incurred losses of $400 million in 2024 and $1.7 billion in 2025 through the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
ClaimSammy Gyamfi described the Minority's allegations as 'blatant lies' and cited audited accounts showing operational surplus of GH¢907 million and overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion.
ClaimGoldBod's audited Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, prepared by the Auditor-General of Ghana, show an operational surplus of GH¢907 million and an overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion.
ClaimThe overall surplus of GH¢5.4 billion included GH¢4.5 billion revolving seed capital from the 2025 Budget, credited to GoldBod's accounts on or about December 30, 2025.
ClaimGoldBod's role under the DGPP in 2025 was as a buying agent under a Gold Purchase Agreement signed with the Bank of Ghana in September 2023, with no role in sales or pricing.
ClaimGyamfi noted that the 2024 loss of $400 million occurred when GoldBod did not exist, as the Bank of Ghana used PMMC and Resafire as buying agents in 2024.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin questioned why GoldBod should take credit for forex while disowning losses, demanding answers on off-takers, discounted sales, and fee arrangements.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin argued that GoldBod took Bank of Ghana's money to assay gold and collect fees while pushing losses to BoG, separating benefits from risks and leaving the central bank and taxpayer to bear losses.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin stated that the Bank of Ghana's equity was negative GH¢93.8 billion at the end of last year, negative 6.7% of GDP, calling the central bank 'technically bankrupt'.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin claimed that the losses generated by GoldBod's own purchasing, pricing and sales decisions could no longer sit in the central bank's books while GoldBod enjoyed the credit.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin stated that the Minority conceded that the Auditor-General had conducted an audit but claimed the A-G was not given access to the full picture.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin filed a writ against Sammy Gyamfi and Multimedia Group Limited at the Accra High Court, and against Eric Agyei and Peace FM at the Achimota Circuit Court.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin rejected a report that he was summoned by NPP MPs over extortion claims, stating he had called the caucus meeting himself and describing it as a regular practice.
ClaimIn a Facebook post on Saturday, August 22, 2026, Afenyo-Markin said he would pursue appropriate legal remedies over the statements made against him.
ClaimAfenyo-Markin rejected allegations that his scrutiny of the DGPP and GoldBod was motivated by improper considerations, insisting his actions were part of his constitutional responsibility as Minority Leader.
ClaimThe Minority Caucus in Parliament called on GoldBod to account for losses associated with its gold trading operations, arguing it cannot claim credit for forex gains while distancing itself from losses.