The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP), finds it disturbing and also ironic why the Mahama Government is setting up an anti-corruption agency while at the same time going to great lengths to shield GoldBod from accountability.

Parliament, on Friday, March 27, 2026, passed the Governance Advisory Council bill, an independent body aimed at bolstering accountability, combat corruption and protect human rights. This office is to beef up efforts to fight corruption by ensuring that duty bearers are accountable for their stewardships.

In another development, the Majority side in Parliament voted on the same day to reject the Minority’s motion to establish an adhoc committee to investigate alleged losses at GoldBod and other issues related to Gold-for-reserves scheme.

IERPP finds the two scenarios to be in conflict with each other. If the advisory council has accountability as one of its core functions, why then is the Government preventing GoldBod from being investigated?

The signal the Mahama Government is sending out is that the establishment of the Governing Council is of little use to the fight against corruption. Government’s claims of fighting corruption are at loggerheads with the realities on the ground.

The Government is essentially wasting resources setting up anti-corruption outfits when these agencies will never be allowed the independence to fight corruption. The Governance Council becomes superfluous if the likes of GoldBod will be shielded from accountability by the same Government.

The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy has one question for the Mahama Government: Why is GoldBod being protected from scrutiny? Why is the Government hindering efforts to subject GoldBod to investigations with respect to the $214 million losses in its trading activities? What infractions have been committed by the managers of GoldBod that the Government is afraid to let sunshine to be brought upon their activities?

These are worrying times if the Government would use its huge numbers in Parliament to prevent GoldBod’s activities from being looked into. President Mahama is not walking his talk as far as the fight against corruption is concerned.

Prof. Isaac Boadi, Executive Director, IERPP