The Acting Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Sammy Gyamfi, has debunked claims that the GoldBod Bill prohibits the public, including chiefs, from possessing gold.
He says there is no such provision contained in the GoldBod Bill recently passed by Parliament.
His comment comes on the back of claims by some people that one needs to acquire a license before holding or keeping gold, jewelry, or other gold products.
According to speculation, failing to obtain a license to keep or hold any of the minerals is allegedly a crime under the GoldBod bill.
But in a post on his X Sunday, March 30, 2025, as part of efforts to clear up misconceptions about the GoldBod, the PMMC Acting CEO described the claims fueling that assertion as “totally false”.
“No provision in the Goldbod Bill passed by Parliament and awaiting the assent of the President, criminalizes the mere holding, possession and/or storage of Gold,” he stated.
He clarified, however, that it is the hoarding of gold that constitutes a crime, as contained in Clause 68(1) of the GoldBod Bill. Gyamfi explained that hoarding is distinct from possession, as defined in the Bill.
According to him, the purpose of the provision is to avoid the deliberate stockpiling of gold by dealers to create artificial scarcity to manipulate the market price.
“The purpose of Clause 68(1) of the Goldbod Bill, is to prevent situations where licensed agents of the Goldbod, given funds by the Goldbod to buy gold for the Goldbod, will hoard gold for the purpose of causing scarcity or create unfair competition or manipulate prices, among others.
“It is therefore false that the Goldbod Bill criminalizes the possession of gold by a person or Chief,” he clarified.
His comments come after the passage of the Ghana Gold Board Bill 2025 into law on Friday, March 28, 2025. The newly established Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has been tasked with overseeing, monitoring, and managing the buying, selling, and export of gold and other precious minerals.
Under this law, GoldBod has been designated as the sole exporter of gold from Ghana’s small-scale mining sector, effectively barring licensed traders and bullion dealers from making direct gold exports.
The establishment of GoldBod is part of President John Dramani Mahama’s economic revitalization efforts and operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance.
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