The Executive Director of the Africa Center for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), Dr Rasheed Draman, has called for independent voices to be included in any investigation into Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme by Parliament.

Speaking on Joy FM's Newsnight on Tuesday, August 25, he said the involvement of eminent Ghanaians alongside Members of Parliament would help ensure credibility and public confidence in the process, particularly given the highly partisan nature of the debate over alleged losses from the programme.

His comments follow calls by incoming Majority Leader James Agalga for a comprehensive probe into the programme from its inception to date.

Dr Draman believes Parliament may struggle to conduct an impartial investigation on its own because both the Majority and Minority have already taken positions on the matter.

“For me, I have said in the past few days that a very good approach to dealing with this might be one that would see a committee set up that includes some eminent Ghanaians,” he said.

According to him, such an arrangement would help ensure that the inquiry is not reduced to a contest between the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).

“Already, positions have been taken. NDC is going to defend its position, NPP is going to defend its position,” he noted.

Dr Draman said independent and respected personalities could help the committee focus on the national interest and ensure that Ghanaians get a credible account of how the programme has been managed.

He cited Denmark as an example, where the Public Accounts Committee includes both Members of Parliament and non-parliamentarians in the examination of public finances.

He argued that Ghana could consider a similar approach, particularly because of the significant sums of public funds reportedly involved in the gold purchase programme.

“Some independent and outside kind of voices and cool heads might be able to get our parliamentarians to look into this and think about the national interests first and foremost before their usual partisan and parochial interests,” he said.

Dr Draman stressed that a transparent, full-scale investigation would be in Ghana’s interest and could help resolve the competing claims over losses incurred under the programme.

He added that an inquiry covering the programme from its inception, rather than focusing only on the period after the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board, would give Ghanaians a more comprehensive picture of its financial performance.