The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has defended the Minority’s scrutiny of the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), insisting that attempts to subject him to personal attacks will not distract him from demanding accountability over the programme’s reported losses.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said his questioning of the programme and the role of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) was part of Parliament’s constitutional oversight responsibility and was not motivated by any personal or political agenda.

In a statement posted on social media on Saturday, August 22, the Effutu MP said the controversy had shifted from the substantive financial issues to attacks on his character following questions he had raised about the reported US$1.7 billion loss, equivalent to about GH¢22 billion, associated with the DGPP in 2025.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its recent assessment of the programme, said the rapid scaling-up of the DGPP had generated substantial losses for the Bank of Ghana and exposed the central bank to significant quasi-fiscal risks.

Mr Afenyo-Markin said he would not be deterred by the backlash.

“Over the past week, all manner of insults and personal attacks have been directed at me, apparently in an attempt to impugn my character and divert attention from the substantive questions I have raised,” he stated.

He said the attacks followed concerns raised by the Minority over the financial implications of the gold purchasing programme and GoldBod’s involvement in the transactions.

“False and defamatory allegations have also been made about my motives for questioning the losses incurred under the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme and the role of GoldBod in those transactions,” he noted.

“These allegations are entirely false, and I reject them without qualification,” he insisted.

‘My duty is oversight’

The Minority Leader said his position was anchored in Parliament’s constitutional mandate to scrutinise public expenditure and hold institutions exercising public authority accountable.

“As Minority Leader in Parliament, my responsibility is to help Parliament discharge its constitutional oversight function,” he stressed. “My actions have been guided solely by that responsibility. I have neither acted from any improper motive nor conducted myself inappropriately in the performance of my duties.”

The comments come amid an increasingly heated public exchange between the Minority Leader and the Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, over the interpretation of the IMF’s reported loss.

Mr Gyamfi has rejected the characterisation of the US$1.7 billion figure as a loss incurred by GoldBod, arguing that the amount relates to the Bank of Ghana’s DGPP and should not be attributed to GoldBod’s own financial performance.

He has pointed to GoldBod’s audited 2025 financial statements, which show an operational surplus of GH¢907 million and an overall surplus of more than GH¢5.4 billion.

Mr Gyamfi has also maintained that GoldBod’s role under the 2025 DGPP was primarily to purchase and aggregate gold on behalf of the central bank and that it was not involved in the subsequent sale of the gold, determination of selling prices or negotiation of off-take agreements.

The IMF, however, has identified the DGPP as a source of significant financial risk to the Bank of Ghana and said losses associated with the programme and GoldBod-related activities should ultimately be transparently brought onto the national budget.

‘Questions will not disappear’

Mr Afenyo-Markin said the intensity of the response to his concerns reinforced the need for continued scrutiny rather than weakening the case for accountability.

“I recognise that, in public life, those who are uncomfortable with legitimate scrutiny may push back.”

He accused unnamed persons of attempting to change the subject of the debate by making the person raising the questions the focus of public controversy.

“In some cases, they may resort to false allegations, personal attacks and ridicule in an effort to shift attention from the substantive issues and make the person asking the questions the subject of controversy.”

The Minority’s position is that regardless of which state institution ultimately carries the accounting loss, Parliament must establish how the loss arose, the role played by the various institutions involved, whether the transactions represented value for money and what measures are being taken to prevent similar exposure.

The dispute has therefore widened into a broader debate about the financial cost of the country’s gold-for-reserves strategy, the role of GoldBod and the extent to which the economic benefits of the programme justify the losses recorded by the central bank.

For Mr Afenyo-Markin, however, the immediate issue remains accountability.

His latest response signals that the Minority intends to continue pursuing the matter despite the escalating political exchanges surrounding it.