The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of using the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to promote illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey, despite the party’s campaign promise to eradicate the menace.
Afenyo-Markin made the allegation while addressing members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) over the weekend as part of the New Patriotic Party’s engagement with students and young people ahead of the 2028 general elections.
According to him, the NDC has failed to deliver on several key promises made to Ghanaians ahead of the 2024 general elections and has instead adopted policies that contradict its commitments, particularly in the fight against illegal mining.
The Minority Leader criticised the government’s performance across a number of sectors, arguing that the NDC has fallen short of expectations on issues relating to employment, economic management, women’s empowerment, and environmental protection.
“They [the NDC] promised women banking, they have failed. They promised to end galamsey, they have rather established GoldBod and they are using GoldBod to promote galamsey and that is not the country we want.”
The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) was established as the country’s sole authority with exclusive rights to buy, sell, weigh, grade, assay, value, and export gold and other precious minerals.
The institution was created to formalise and regulate Ghana’s gold trading sector, improve transparency, maximise foreign exchange earnings, and strengthen oversight of the country’s mineral resources.
According to figures released by the Ministry of Finance, GoldBod purchased 135.843 metric tonnes of gold between January 2025 and May 2026, generating more than $10 billion in revenue for the country.
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