Former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Member of Parliament for Damongo, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has defended the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), crediting former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia with conceiving the policy.

Mr Jinapor’s comments in a write-up come in response to recent remarks by Dr Bawumia, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, while addressing members of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners.

Mr Jinapor, who was the Minister responsible for Mines when the programme was introduced, said it was conceived by Dr Bawumia during the economic difficulties that followed the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

According to him, Dr Bawumia, who was then head of the Economic Management Team, held strategic meetings with relevant stakeholders and directed the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to engage stakeholders before the programme was formally launched on June 17, 2021, at the then head office of the Bank of Ghana.

He said the programme marked the first time the government had purchased gold domestically to strengthen the country’s gold reserves and augment its foreign exchange reserves.

Under the programme, he said, the Bank of Ghana purchased gold locally from licensed aggregators and mining companies and paid them in Ghana cedis at the prevailing market price.

Gold reserves

Mr Jinapor said Ghana had 8.77 tonnes of gold reserves when the programme was launched, despite the Bank of Ghana’s initial target of doubling the reserves within five years.

He said the target was exceeded, with the country’s gold reserves increasing to 30.53 tonnes by December 2024, less than four years after the programme was introduced.

He said the Ministry subsequently engaged the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners before invoking the government’s pre-emptory right under Section 7 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), in November 2023.

The move, he said, resulted in policy directives requiring large-scale mining companies to sell 20% of their refined gold to the Bank of Ghana in Ghana cedis before exporting the remainder.

He added that Community Mining Schemes and licensed small-scale miners were required to sell their gold to the government through the then Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC).

Mr Jinapor said the measures were deliberately targeted at licensed and responsible small-scale miners to ensure that illegally sourced gold was excluded from the programme.

He said the directives were coordinated and enforced by the Minerals Commission, PMMC and the Bank of Ghana, with support from the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners.

Gold exports

Mr Jinapor also cited Ghana’s gold export figures as evidence that the measures did not prevent the country from recording strong export performance.

He said gold exports reached a record US$11.6 billion in 2024, compared with US$7.6 billion in 2023 and US$6.6 billion in 2022.

He further argued that the reserves accumulated through the DGPP had become an important component of Ghana’s economic stability.

According to him, Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Asiama, speaking at the 77th Annual New Year School and Conference at the University of Ghana in January 2026, said the programme had strengthened the country’s external buffers and contributed to the central bank’s macroeconomic stabilisation efforts.

Mr Jinapor also took issue with the government’s Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANARAP), describing it as a renamed version of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

He alleged that the renamed policy had resulted in the sale of more than half of the gold accumulated under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.

Mr Jinapor said the public record should reflect that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, which significantly increased the Bank of Ghana’s gold reserves and contributed to the national economy, was conceived by Dr Bawumia.

Below is Samuel Abu Jinapor's write-up:

ABU JINAPOR WRITES ON DOMESTIC GOLD PURCHASE PROGRAMME.

Recent comments by the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme while addressing the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners have generated some discussions. As the then Minister responsible for Mines at the time the programme was introduced, I deem it necessary to set the records straight as follows.

1. The Domestic Gold Purchase Programme is the brainchild of H.E. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, conceived at a time when the country was facing severe economic challenges as a fallout from the twin crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian – Ukraine war. As head of the Economic Management Team, he conceived the idea, held strategic meetings with relevant stakeholders, and instructed the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (the Ministry), to engage all stakeholders under the Ministry, before the Programme was formally launched on 17^th June 2021 at the then head office of the Bank of Ghana.

2. This was the first time the Government of Ghana was purchasing gold domestically to shore up gold reserves and augment foreign reserves. When Government decided to boost the country's gold reserves in 1960, they purchased gold from abroad and transported it to the Bank of Ghana’s vault. Under this innovative Programme, however, the Bank of Ghana purchased gold locally from licensed aggregators and mining companies, and paid them in the Ghana Cedis equivalent of the prevailing market price.

As the then Governor of the Bank of Ghana rightly observed in his remarks at the launch of the Programme, “This event is indeed historic as it marks the first time the Bank of Ghana is embarking on a domestic gold purchasing to augment our foreign reserves with a view to doubling Gold holdings in our foreign exchange reserves portfolio. It therefore marks a significant change in the modus operandi of Bank of Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves management operations.”

3. At the time of the launch of the Programme, Ghana’s gold reserve stood at 8.77 tonnes, and had been so for a very long time. And even though the Bank of Ghana’s target was to double this figure in five (5) years, as at December 2024, less than four (4) years into the implementation of this consequential Programme, the Bank of Ghana had almost quadrupled their reserves, from 8.77 tonnes to 30.53 tonnes.

4. In furtherance of the objectives of this programme, the Ministry held series of meetings with the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners, and after extensive deliberations, on 23^rd November, 2023, the Ministry invoked the Government’s pre-emptory right under section 7 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), and issued policy directives to the Minerals Commission and the erstwhile Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), which was later amended on 4^th January, 2024, to give effect to the Policy.

5. Under these Directives, which is a matter of public record, all large scale mining companies were required to sell twenty percent (20%) of their refined gold to the Bank of Ghana in Ghana Cedis before exporting the rest, and all Community Mining Schemes as well as all Licensed Small Scale Miners were to sell all their gold to Government through the PMMC. All small scale and community mining licences were to have a clause mandating them to sell their gold output to Government. These Directives received wide publication, not only in Ghana, but in the international media, as reported by Reuters.

We emphasised on Licensed and responsible Small Scale Miners because we didn’t want to have anything to do with illegally sourced gold, and the Directives were coordinated and enforced by the Minerals Commission, the PMMC and the Bank of Ghana with support from the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners.

To further ensure compliance, on 3^rd May 2023, the Ministry issued further directives to the Minerals Commission and the PMMC, not to process any application for a gold export licence without the express written approval of the Minister. Despite all these measures, gold exports reached a record 11.6billion US Dollars (US$11,600,000,000.00) in 2024, up from 7.6 billion in 2023 and 6.6 billion in 2022.

6. It is important to emphasize the unimpeachable fact that, it is these reserves accumulated under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme that has been the backbone of our National economy to date. Indeed, at the 77^th Annual New Year School and Conference held at the University of Ghana on 6^th January 2026, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama, said the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme has strengthened external buffers and macroeconomic stability, noting that the Programme has been crucial to the stabilisation goal of the Bank of Ghana. 

This Government’s “Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation policy (GANARAP),” is nothing more than a renaming of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.   It is also a fact that this renamed policy has resulted in the sale of more than half of the gold accumulated by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia Government under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

7. Let the public record of our country reflect that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme which has resulted in the exponential increase of the reserves of the Central Bank of our country and contributed significantly to our national economy was the brainchild of H.E Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia.