Former Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has commended the ongoing work under the domestic gold purchase programme, describing it as a positive initiative to address Ghana’s economic pressures.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Mr Mercer said he was particularly pleased with the progress of the “GoldBod” initiative, which he explained leverages the domestic gold purchase programme originally introduced as a measure to manage economic challenges.

“I am happy, especially with the GoldBod work that they are doing, which essentially is leveraging the domestic gold purchase programme that was introduced as a measure to deal with our economic pressure that we were being confronted with at the time under the auspices of His Excellency Dr Mahamudu Bawumia,” he said on Saturday, January 10.

He noted that the programme has been strengthened, particularly through the enhancement of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana, alongside additional measures aimed at improving the initiative’s effectiveness.

“Yes, they’ve improved it, they’ve beefed up PMMC, which was the programme in conjunction with the Bank of Ghana, and put in a few measures to strengthen what it is that we have started,” Mr Mercer added.

While acknowledging the political context surrounding government initiatives, he called for recognition of tangible achievements.

“So it is a good thing for Ghana. I am not the one to do politics for everything necessarily, but give credit where credit is due,” he remarked.