IMANI, allies push for forensic audit of Gold-for-Oil 

IMANI Africa and allied oversight institutions are demanding an urgent forensic audit into Ghana’s Gold-for-Oil (G4O) programme after a damning international risk assessment.

The confidential forensic review, which drew on data from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST), and Customs Division, concluded that the G4O scheme suffered systemic governance failures, fiscal leakages, and deliberate obfuscation.

Key findings revealed that the gold component of the programme operated without contracts between the Bank of Ghana and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, creating space for discretionary pricing and foreign exchange practices.

Analysts said these lapses enabled undervaluation of gold, smuggling incentives, and opaque value transfers.

The report further exposed what it described as a “deliberate architecture of obfuscation” that concealed leakages and weakened accountability.

It also flagged missing documentation on petroleum cargoes, unchecked tax exemptions estimated at GHS 7.2 billion, and the involvement of high-risk international suppliers with links to sanction-sensitive jurisdictions in Dubai, Cyprus, and Switzerland.

Reacting to the revelations, Dr. Ishmael Evans Yamson, Chairman of Ishmael Yamson & Associates, described the programme as a deception.

“This is one of many such initiatives often presented as answers to Ghana’s economic troubles, but in reality are designed to enrich individuals,” he said. “The government must deal ruthlessly with all those involved, if the resetting of the Ghana agenda must succeed.”

IMANI Africa’s Founding President, Franklin Cudjoe, warned that the review confirmed the group’s longstanding concerns.

“The programme was not merely flawed by incompetence but systematically weaponised against the state,” he argued. “Ghana must now pursue an uncompromising forensic audit and criminal prosecutions, not just to recover stolen billions, but to signal that predatory exploitation of public policy will no longer be tolerated.”

Bright Simons, IMANI’s honorary Vice President, stressed that G4O was never innovative. “The grand pageantry around a simple barter of gold for fuel was designed purely to hide shady dealings,” he said.

The coalition has recommended a full forensic audit, recovery of lost revenues through retroactive tax assessments, prosecutions, and quarterly publication of contracts and reconciliation reports.

They insist that delaying accountability will amount to complicity and further erode Ghana’s fiscal integrity.