How do GoldBod’s assay fees compel BoG to make losses? – Sammy Gyamfi quizzes

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has questioned claims that assay fees charged by the institution contributed to losses recorded by the Bank of Ghana (BoG). Mr Gyamfi said those making such claims may not fully understand the arrangement, stressing that the fees were not introduced by him or the current management of GoldBod. He explained that the charges were approved by Parliament under the previous administration and formed part of the original arrangement that GoldBod inherited.

According to him, he merely took over the existing framework and has since reduced the applicable fees significantly. Speaking on Twitter Spaces on Sunday, August 9, Mr Gyamfi questioned how the approved assay charges could be cited as a direct cause of losses at the central bank, particularly when the fees were not created by the current GoldBod administration. “How does GoldBod’s assay fees compel the Bank of Ghana to make losses?” he asked, while insisting that the charges were part of an approved arrangement and were not his personal initiative.

Mr Gyamfi maintained that rather than increasing the charges, his administration had reduced them considerably as part of efforts to make GoldBod’s operations more efficient and beneficial to the state. Mr Gyamfi said the fees were subject to the necessary parliamentary approval and applied to gold-buying transactions, rather than being charges imposed specifically on the Bank of Ghana (BoG). He explained that GoldBod’s role in the process involved assaying and determining the quality and value of gold presented for purchase, for which the approved assay charge was applicable.

He stressed that the fee was therefore not an arbitrary charge introduced by the current management of GoldBod. Speaking on Twitter Spaces on Sunday, August 9, Mr Gyamfi said the assay fees paid to GoldBod were approved by Parliament and formed part of the charges applicable to entities using the board’s services. “GoldBod only charged BoG assay fees, and this fee went to Parliament, and it was approved, and this was not only the Bank of Ghana that we charged,” he said.

Mr Gyamfi’s comments come amid discussions about the operations and charges associated with GoldBod’s gold-buying activities since the establishment of the institution under the current administration.