CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, has dismissed Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’s claim that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia deserves credit for the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Gold for Reserve policy.
He says it is ridiculous for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to demand credit for the appreciation of the Ghana cedi, which they say is as a result of the Gold-for-Reserve policy introduced by the former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to Tameklo, the BoG has historically dealt in gold reserve programmes, making it nothing new, and questions why the previous administration should take credit for it.
He attributes the Ghana Gold Board’s (GoldBod) significant contribution to the nation’s unprecedented reserves to its role in the BoG’s reserve policy, sparking the NPP’s attempt to claim credit.
Speaking on TV3’s BigIssue segment on the NewDay morning show on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, Tameklo, who is also the Director of Legal Affairs for the NDC, praised the GoldBod’s impact on boosting the national reserves.
“The innovation with which the GoldBod has intervened, to the point that today, forex repatriation to the Ghanaian economy, 2025 was in the region of US$10 billion. And that is why the unprecedented US$13billion reserve our friends in the NPP do not understand. I’m not surprised,” he stated.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah, had in an Asempa FM interview on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, attributed Ghana’s currency’s appreciation to measures implemented by the erstwhile NPP administration, particularly the Gold for Reserves programme, which he said helped build foreign reserves at a time of rising global gold prices.
“The appreciation of the cedi started in the last quarter of 2024 when the Gold for Reserves programme took effect, gold prices rallied, and we were able to build reserves and even have an excess. That is where the appreciation began,” he explained.
To back his claims, the former Information Minister cited the 2024 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Bank of Ghana, noting that the document supports his argument on the timing of the cedi’s recovery.
“I have here the Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024 of the Bank of Ghana, signed by the Governor, Dr. Asiamah. The report clearly shows that the appreciation began when the Gold for Reserves programme and other measures we introduced took effect,” he added.
However, the NPA boss avers the assertion is laughable, saying the Akufo-Addo administration only sought to change the name of the policy that had existed with the BoG over the years to take credit.
“When I heard my Kojo Oppong Nkrumah say that Bawumia should be credited as well for the Gold-for-Reserve policy, how ridiculous can that proposition be. The Bank of Ghana, right from its inception, has always targeted the Gold-for-Reserve. Even if you’re called Roland, they can decide that they’ll come and give you a different name and now say that they did your naming ceremony for you,” he told host, Roland Walker.
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