The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, has questioned why the release of US$279 million to the institution is being criticised, insisting that the funds were approved as part of the 2025 Budget and were intended to serve as revolving seed capital.
Responding to concerns raised by the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, Abena Osei-Asare, over funds released to GoldBod, Mr Gyamfi insisted the allocation was lawful and formed part of the budget for last year, which was approved by Parliament.
Speaking on the Joy FM Super Morning Show on Friday, July 24, he said the Ministry of Finance had made provision for revolving seed capital to support the operations of the newly established GoldBod and was therefore obliged to release the funds.
“The 2025 Budget Statement made provision for revolving seed capital for the Ghana Gold Board. The Ministry of Finance was obligated to release that money to the Gold Board to support our trading operations,” he said.
According to Mr Gyamfi, the funds were released only towards the end of 2025 after the Finance Ministry had mobilised the resources.
He dismissed suggestions that the disbursement amounted to financial impropriety.
“How is it a crime if money is allocated to the Gold Board? If the Ministry of Finance makes a budgetary allocation for you and subsequently releases that money, how is that evidence of GoldBod syphoning public funds?” he asked.
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Mr Gyamfi argued that the release of the funds followed the normal budget implementation process and should not be misconstrued as evidence of wrongdoing.
“The money was budgeted for us as revolving seed capital. The Ministry simply released it in line with the approved budget. That is not evidence of syphoning public funds,” he said.
He also criticised claims that GoldBod had improperly benefited from public funds, arguing that such assertions ignored the principles of public financial administration.
“In one breath, people complain that government is not releasing approved budgetary allocations to public institutions. In another, when the ministry releases funds that were approved in the budget for GoldBod, they describe it as syphoning public funds. That is simply not correct,” he stated.
Mr Gyamfi maintained that the allocation was legitimate and urged critics to distinguish between approved budgetary releases and allegations of financial misconduct.
