Incoming Majority Leader and Builsa North MP James Agalga has challenged claims that the Gold Board (GoldBod) incurred losses under its domestic gold purchasing operations.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, Mr Agalga said GoldBod itself had never incurred losses, insisting the institution had instead recorded a significant surplus.

“Gold Board itself has never incurred losses. On the contrary, they have made a surplus, huge, in the region of what, 4 billion plus, thereabout, and that is captured in the Auditor-General’s report,” he said.

His comments come amid a push by the Minority in Parliament for an ad hoc committee to investigate what it describes as losses from the government’s gold trading scheme.

Mr Agalga said he had discussed the matter with GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi and reviewed documents relevant to the debate.

“And I can tell you on authority that the Gold Board will relish any opportunity created for the issues that have come up over the period to be interrogated,” he said.

He added that GoldBod was “ready” and “not running away from accountability.”

Mr Agalga also pointed to the 2025 Auditor-General’s report, arguing that it contained no adverse finding against GoldBod.

“All the issues that have come up, okay, you have an auditor-general’s report dated 2025. No single adverse finding in that report was made against the Gold Board,” he said.

He also cited an agreement dated 2023 between the now-defunct Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) and the Bank of Ghana.

According to him, the agreement contains provisions on costs associated with the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

He said the agreement remains in force and that transitional provisions made GoldBod the successor to PMMC, including responsibility for assets and liabilities.

Mr Agalga said the agreement also makes clear that costs associated with gold purchases include security, insurance, assay and smelting.

“Remember, the Gold Board is an agent of the Bank of Ghana. The principal must pay for the cost,” he said.

He argued that the proposed parliamentary probe should therefore not be restricted to 2025.

He said the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme began in 2021 and that Parliament must examine how gold purchases were handled under the previous administration.

“Maybe what we need to do is probably to extend the scope of the probe,” he said.

Mr Agalga cited an IMF report which, he said, indicated that $400 million was lost through the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

He explained that the programme was a deliberate government policy designed to support the cedi against the dollar.

“It was a deliberate government policy, so we had to spend money. The Bank of Ghana had to spend money to achieve those objectives,” he said.

He also questioned whether PMMC bought gold using forex bureau rates rather than Bank of Ghana rates in 2021, arguing that any differences between the rates could have created additional costs.

He said Parliament should determine who bore those costs then and whether the same practice continues today.

Mr Agalga warned that limiting the investigation to 2025 could undermine the process.

“If you limit your investigation, when in actual fact we are talking about an agreement which is still in force and I have copies which hasn’t been terminated, it dates back to 2023, that agreement that I’ve seen between the Precious Minerals Marketing Company and the Bank of Ghana, which is still in force, and you limit the scope to only 2025, you’ll be doing a grave disservice to the people of this country,” he said.

He called for a broader investigation to establish the full picture.

“So let us bring all the issues to the fore, investigate the matters thoroughly, and whatever findings we make, the people of this country can be properly guided,” he said.