Oppong Nkrumah demands parliamentary inquiry into GoldBod, explains GH¢22bn shortfall
Ofoase-Ayirebi MP and NPP Policy Committee Chairman Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the GoldBod programme, alleging that GH¢133 billion was deployed outside the approved fiscal programme and resulted in a GH¢22 billion shortfall.
6h ago·170views·6 min read
Member of Parliament for Ofoase-Ayirebi and Chairman of the New Patriotic Party's Policy Committee, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has renewed calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and its gold-trading operations, arguing that ordinary audits will not adequately answer questions surrounding billions of cedis involved in the programme.
Speaking in an interview with Paul Adom-Otchere on Good Evening Ghana, the former Information Minister questioned how the Bank of Ghana could, according to him, provide about GH¢133 billion for GoldBod-related transactions when Ghana's entire approved 2025 national budget was approximately GH¢293 billion.
Oppong Nkrumah described the arrangement as a massive "off-book" intervention that required greater parliamentary and public scrutiny.
He also alleged that after accounting for the GH¢133 billion deployed through the arrangement, there was a shortfall of approximately GH¢22 billion.
"The only problem is that by the time they were done and had to account for the GH¢133 billion, it was short by GH¢22 billion," he said.
'GH¢133bn was outside the fiscal programme'
Oppong Nkrumah began his argument by comparing the amount involved in the gold programme with the size of Ghana's 2025 national budget.
According to him, the Finance Minister presented a budget of approximately GH¢293 billion to Parliament, after which lawmakers spent weeks scrutinising government revenue and expenditure before approving the corresponding appropriation.
That amount, he said, was intended to cover virtually the entire machinery of government, including national security, roads, education, the school feeding programme, the National Health Insurance Scheme and other public expenditure.
Against that backdrop, he questioned how another GH¢133 billion could allegedly be created by the central bank and provided for the gold programme without forming part of the fiscal programme approved by Parliament.
"Nobody knew that when you went to bed at night, the central bank printed GH¢133 billion off the fiscals and gave it to one entity," he alleged.
He explained that the fiscal programme represents government's revenue, financing and expenditure framework, which is ultimately subjected to parliamentary approval.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, the GH¢133 billion intervention was "off book, off the system", arguing that this was why such activity had been described as quasi-fiscal.
Gold purchased, sold for forex
The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP said the funds were used to purchase gold, which was subsequently sold for foreign exchange, with the forex then supplied to the financial market.
He characterised the arrangement as a redirection of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme initiated under the previous NPP administration.
Under the earlier approach, he said, domestically purchased gold was intended to strengthen the Bank of Ghana's international reserves.
He claimed that under the new arrangement, gold purchases were instead monetised for foreign currency that could be supplied to the market to support the cedi.
"The natural flow of demand and supply for dollars is inadequate; the currency will be depreciating," he explained, arguing that authorities consequently intervened by "pumping the dollars into the system."
However, Oppong Nkrumah maintained that the critical issue was what happened to the full value of the GH¢133 billion allegedly deployed.
According to him, the Bank of Ghana's position after the transactions indicated a GH¢22 billion gap.
GoldBod profit doesn't answer GH¢22bn question
Oppong Nkrumah also challenged arguments that GoldBod's reported profitability was sufficient evidence that there had been no loss associated with the broader programme.
GoldBod has faced intense political scrutiny over its financial statements and the accounting treatment of funds received to support its operations.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, the distinction between GoldBod's own financial statements and the wider Bank of Ghana-supported programme is crucial.
He argued that GoldBod could legitimately report a profit on its books while the institution that provided financing for the broader operation could still record a shortfall.
"So you say you've made profit of about GH¢5.4 billion, and the guy who gave you the GH¢133 billion — the one who printed the GH¢133 billion for you — says now the assets that he used and gave to you and was hoping to get assets back, he's short by GH¢22 billion," he said.
"That's the challenge that we have."
He further alleged that part of the amount at the centre of the controversy was recognised as revenue by GoldBod, contributing to the institution's reported profit.
For Oppong Nkrumah, therefore, simply pointing to GoldBod's bottom line does not resolve questions about the financial position of the entire gold-purchase and foreign-exchange arrangement.
GH¢93bn sterilisation 'suppressed demand'
The former minister also linked the gold programme and foreign-exchange interventions to what he described as unprecedented liquidity sterilisation by the Bank of Ghana.
Oppong Nkrumah claimed the central bank sterilised approximately GH¢93 billion during 2025 to remove excess liquidity from the financial system.
Sterilisation is a monetary-policy operation through which a central bank absorbs liquidity from the financial system, often to prevent excess money from fuelling inflation or putting pressure on the exchange rate.
Oppong Nkrumah argued that while the strategy helped contain inflationary pressures, it also restricted the amount of money available for commercial banks to lend to businesses and households.
He said this could explain complaints from traders that declining inflation had not necessarily translated into stronger sales.
"That's why the market women are telling you that, yes, you say prices have come down, inflation has come down, but when we open our shops nobody is buying," he said.
"It's because of the excessive sterilisation they are doing."
According to him, banks had an incentive to place funds with the central bank rather than extend credit to businesses because the Bank of Ghana was paying interest to absorb that liquidity.
He claimed the central bank paid approximately GH¢15.6 billion in interest in connection with the sterilisation operations.
'Rented stability'
Oppong Nkrumah said the NPP had repeatedly warned that improvements in headline economic indicators were being achieved at a substantial underlying cost.
He described the situation as "rented stability", arguing that the apparent macroeconomic gains came with costs that would eventually have to be absorbed by the state.
"They are publishing glossy figures based on rented stability," he said.
"The problem with that is that there's deferred pain at the end."
He claimed the Bank of Ghana ultimately recorded losses of approximately GH¢34 billion, comprising about GH¢15 billion associated with operating income and another GH¢19 billion in non-operating losses.
He further argued that the central bank had been left with what he characterised as a GH¢93 billion "black hole", which would ultimately have implications for taxpayers if government had to recapitalise the institution.
According to Oppong Nkrumah, any recapitalisation of the central bank represents a fiscal cost that would ultimately have to be met through public finances.
Parliament must go beyond audits
The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP rejected suggestions that the normal auditing of GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana would be sufficient to resolve the controversy.
He argued that an audit largely examines whether financial statements were prepared in accordance with the applicable accounting standards and rules.
A parliamentary inquiry, he said, would have a broader mandate to examine the entire chain of transactions, establish what happened to the funds and determine whether losses or other financial costs arose.
"The Auditor-General will look at GoldBod's books and ask himself, were these books constructed in accordance with the standard accounting principles?" he said.
But Oppong Nkrumah maintained that the larger public-interest question goes beyond whether individual sets of accounts satisfy accounting requirements.
He said Parliament should investigate the transactions across the institutions involved and reconcile the full amounts.
"Call the inquiry. Let's go through the process. You will find where the losses are," he insisted.
He argued that legislatures in functioning democracies routinely establish inquiries when major matters of public concern arise and said the scale of money involved in the gold programme justified similar scrutiny.
Oppong Nkrumah cited Parliament's willingness to investigate other national issues, including concerns over sand winning, as evidence that the legislature has the authority to conduct such an exercise.