Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu has called for stronger accountability at the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), citing the scale of funds involved in its operations and the need to address reported losses.
He said attention should focus on improving the institution’s performance and ensuring that its operations, as well as those of the Bank of Ghana, do not generate avoidable losses.
“You see, today, you ought to have improved the Gold Board legislation in a manner that it can become more accountable to the Ghanaian people, because the amount of money involved is huge,” he said.
Mr Iddrisu acknowledged reports of losses and urged a collective response to the concerns. “So we have a gold board today. There have been reported cases of losses. Let’s not run,” he said.
He questioned whether GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana could operate without occasioning such losses, adding: “And I’m saying that is what we must seek to respond to as a country.”
The Tamale South MP also criticised the opposition’s decision to walk out of Parliament during the passage of the GoldBod bill. He argued that remaining in the chamber would have provided an opportunity to strengthen accountability provisions in the legislation.
“And remember, even when the Goldbod bill was passed, they walked out of Parliament,” he said, describing the action as “Immaturity on their part.”
Asked whether he would support changes to the current system to prevent future losses, Mr Iddrisu responded positively.
“Why not? President Mahama will accommodate any objective suggestion from any Ghanaian who thinks that this is the way to improve the Goldbod performance.”
While calling for improvements, he also defended the economic contribution of the government’s gold interventions, saying they had helped strengthen Ghana’s gold reserves and supported the currency.
He maintained that a more stable exchange rate helped businesses plan and reduced pressures on the cost of doing business.