President of the Concerned Small-Scale Miners Association, Michael Kwadwo Peprah, has disclosed that the Gold Board (GoldBod) initiative originated from small-scale miners.
He has therefore urged stakeholders to support its implementation.
Peprah says conversations from his Association’s meeting with then candidate John Dramani Mahama, prior to the December 2024 elections, birthed the idea of establishing the GoldBod.
According to him, the idea is not a top-down initiative but rather a bottom-up approach, emphasizing that it was not imposed by the government but rather developed in consultation with small-scale miners.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement by the GoldBod Technical Committee in Tarkwa Friday, March 14, 2025, he commended the government for reverting to stakeholders through the technical committee, which is developing a legal framework for the establishment of the Gold Board, to build upon the outcomes of their discussions.
“When we met H.E. John Dramani Mahama with Dr. Tonny Aubyn, we told him that people are making money to the extent that foreigners are rather making money in the buying of gold,” he stated.
According to him, these foreigners effectively set the prices for the gold they mined, due to the Precious Minerals Marketing Company’s (PMMC) inability to fulfill its mandate to purchase gold in the country at the time.
“Sometimes you can ask for the prices in Tarkwa, Kumasi and Accra and they will all differ so you could see that they were all benefiting from our sweat.
“The worst part is that, they were not exporting the gold for the government to also make something out of it but rather smuggled it out of the country. This means we were working for the benefit of foreigners,” he stated.
Mr. Peprah continued that it was through their lamentations that they came out with the idea for the government to devise a means to purchase all the gold from small scale miners in the country to boost the local economy.
“We need to make sure that government makes something out of it and be able to monitor and regulate the buying of gold,” he recounted to the gathering as part of the discussions they had with President Mahama prior to the elections in 2024.
In response, the President of the Small-Scale Miners Association disclosed that then candidate Mahama assured them of inculcating their concerns in their manifesto after consulting their technocrats on the matter, which he says has resulted in the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board to that effect.
He reemphasised that the GoldBod is not the brainchild of some people who want to control Ghana’s gold purchases but rather from their discussions prior to the December 2024 polls.
The establishment of the Gold Board is anticipated to create a structured framework for managing the country’s gold resources.
It is expected to improve transparency, regulate transactions, and optimise gold purchases for national reserves. The move aligns with broader efforts to strengthen Ghana’s gold industry and maximise its economic benefits.
Industry analysts believe that transitioning the responsibility to a dedicated board could enhance operational efficiency and reduce the central bank’s direct involvement in commodity markets.
Bullion Traders Chairman courts support for soon-to-established GoldBod to boost Ghana’s economy
