Okaikwei Central MP Raises Alarm Over GoldBod’s Pricing Practices
The Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Boamah, has accused the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) of unfair pricing practices that he says are threatening the survival of local miners and destabilising Ghana’s gold trade sector.
In a statement released on Monday, September 1, and sighted by Citi News, the MP alleged that GoldBod’s pricing system lacks transparency and is being enforced through intimidation by national security operatives.
At the centre of Boamah’s concerns is the board’s decision to use the interbank exchange rate as the basis for daily gold pricing. He described the move as “a rip-off,” pointing out that even government transactions for foreign-denominated goods and services do not rely on this rate.
“Even government payments for foreign currency–denominated goods and services do not use the interbank rate as the basis for transactions. So why gold?” he asked.
Boamah further alleged that the Bank of Ghana manipulates the interbank rate by keeping it below Bloomberg’s USD rate, thereby eroding the returns that small-scale miners receive for their gold. He argued that the situation undermines miners’ investments and puts their businesses at risk.
The MP also criticised GoldBod’s introduction of two different gold prices daily, describing the practice as opaque and economically indefensible. “Which commodity in the same market, for the same players, is sold at dual prices?” he questioned.
He insisted that instead of offering “bonuses,” the board should pay miners the correct market value upfront, adding, “GoldBod and the government must come clean.”
Boamah’s sharpest criticism was directed at the alleged deployment of national security operatives to enforce the pricing regime. He claimed miners and traders are being harassed, intimidated, and in some cases brutalised.
“To justify and enforce this opaque market system introduced by GoldBod, the government has unleashed national security operatives whose task has been to intimidate and brutalise poor miners and traders,” he alleged.
According to him, gold trading is increasingly being forced “under the cover of darkness and secrecy,” warning that such practices could lead to the collapse of the small-scale mining sector, which is largely powered by Ghanaian investment.
“This sector needs urgent protection before it collapses completely,” Boamah warned, urging government intervention to restore fairness, transparency, and trust in the gold trade.
Please download our HOTDIGITAL ONLINE APP and follow HotDigital Online on our social media platforms to stay updated on our upcoming initiatives.
#HotDigitalHealthAwareness #CommunityHealth #GhanaNursesAssociationUK #HealthMatters #HotDigitalOnline #StrongerTogether
