James Agalga Backs GoldBod Probe, but Wants Earlier Purchases Included

James Agalga has welcomed the Minority’s push for a bipartisan investigation into alleged losses linked to Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, while arguing that the inquiry should also examine gold-purchasing activities under the previous administration. Speaking in Parliament after the presentation of the Business Statement, Agalga said contradictory accounts of the programme’s financial results made a fact-finding exercise necessary. He said the government wanted to clarify whether the reported amounts represented actual financial losses or operational costs incurred while running the programme. The Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had urged Parliament to take up a pending motion covering GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana’s gold-trading operations in 2025. He pointed to what he described as a sharp contrast: GoldBod had reported a surplus from gold purchases, while the central bank recorded substantial losses associated with the programme. Afenyo-Markin said the public deserved answers about where the losses occurred, how transactions were accounted for and who authorised them. Agalga said the Majority’s position was that GoldBod had reported operational losses, and said that view was supported by the Auditor-General’s report. He indicated that the Majority was prepared for an investigation, but would seek to extend its scope to cover the previous administration’s gold-purchasing activities as well. According to the report, Agalga said a broader review could help establish the facts and bring the matter to a conclusion. The competing interpretations of the programme’s financial results, however, remain at the centre of the proposed parliamentary inquiry.