We don’t buy gold from illegal miners – Sammy Gyamfi 

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board, Samuel Gyamfi, has firmly dismissed claims that the agency buys gold from illegal miners.

Mr. Gyamfi was responding to a comment made by lawyer and policy analyst, Mr. Kofi Bentil, on TV3’s Key Points programme, where Bentil reportedly suggested that “about 85% of small-scale miners in the country are galamsey operators,” and therefore, “85% of the gold being purchased by Gold Board is from galamsey sources.”

Reacting to the assertion, Mr. Gyamfi said, “My attention has been drawn to a false statement that one of your panelists, specifically Mr. Kofi Bentil, has made about the sources of gold purchases of the Ghana Gold Board. I want to put on record that that statement is totally false.”

He added, “Mr. Bentil should not be allowed to get away with such falsehood on a very important platform such as Key Points on TV3.”

Providing clarity, the CEO emphasized that the Gold Board operates strictly within the confines of the law.

“For the record, Gold Board is a creature of law. The Ghana Gold Board was established under Act 1140 passed by Parliament in 2025,” he stated.

According to him, the law “provides for how and where Gold Board must buy gold,” and it mandates that the Board “only buy gold from licensed miners.”

Mr. Gyamfi further explained that Gold Board buys 20% of its gold from large-scale mining companies in Ghana and the remaining from licensed small-scale miners.

“We buy gold, and Mr. Ken Ashigbey, who is the head of the Chamber of Mines, will attest to you that there are about seven large-scale mining companies in Ghana that Gold Board currently buys 20% of their gold,” he said.

He clarified that “there are over 2,000 licensed small-scale miners in the country, and that is the primary source of all small-scale gold purchases of the Gold Board.”

“The Gold Board, by law and by policy, does not deal with illegal miners,” he stressed. “We deal with licensed small-scale miners through the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners and the Concerned Small-Scale Miners Association.”

Mr. Gyamfi described the Gold Board’s approach as “a novelty” in Ghana’s mining history, noting that for the first time, there is “a legal and institutional framework that ensures gold is purchased only from licensed miners.”

The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) was established under Act 1140 in 2025 to regulate, promote, and manage the country’s gold trade, ensuring transparency and legal compliance in gold transactions.

In recent times, the government has come under heavy criticism over its decisions to combat illegal mining effectively, with civil society expressing dissatisfaction on the progress made so far.

During a meeting with Civil Society Organizations at the Jubilee House last Friday, President John Mahama assured them he was determined to win the fight against galamsey.

“We need your support. We need your criticism, your advocacy, your pressure,” he told them. “Continue to put our feet to the fire, and let’s win this fight together.”