Parliament passes Ghana Gold Board Bill
Parliament has passed the Ghana Gold Board Bill, 2025, establishing the Gold Board to oversee, monitor and regulate the buying, selling and export of gold and other precious minerals.
The bill, which converts the existing Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) into the Ghana Gold Board, is expected to promote value addition to gold, support responsible mining practices, facilitate the accumulation of gold reserves by the Bank of Ghana and retain more foreign exchange earnings within the country.
The bill’s passage was not without controversy, as the Minority staged a walkout during the consideration process.
Their protest was a result of the First Deputy Speaker, Bernard Ahiafor’s refusal to grant their request to reconvene at 10 a.m. on March 29, to further deliberate on the bill after the passage of the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
Despite the division in the House, the Ghana Gold Board Bill, 2025, was passed, laying the foundation for a structured and transparent framework to regulate the country’s gold industry.
Minority’s opposition, concerns
The Minority Caucus strongly opposed the bill, arguing that its passage could encourage illegal mining.
Their concerns were echoed in a submission by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who acknowledged the efforts of the Finance Minister and the Committee on Finance in shaping the bill but raised critical red flags about its implementation.
Their concerns, however, did not prevent the legislation from moving forward.
Earlier in his submission, Mr Afenyo-Markin raised concerns about the financial implications of the bill, noting that while sectors such as agriculture struggled for funding, the government was allocating $270 million to the Gold Board.
Another major concern was the governance structure of the Gold Board, which he argued was highly politicised.
“If those benefiting from this initiative fail to repay, what can we do? Especially when some of them present themselves as party activists, making it difficult to hold them accountable.
Mr Speaker, we must be cautious as a nation and I am deeply concerned,” he said.
Need for reforms
The Majority Leader, Mahama Ayariga, also emphasised the urgent need for reforms in the extractive industry, citing the country’s continued struggle to benefit adequately from its gold resources.
He described this as a major economic challenge, stating that despite the country’s rich gold reserves, it continued to struggle economically due to a flawed system that allowed foreign entities to dominate gold exports.
The establishment of the Gold Board, he explained, was intended to change that by creating a state-controlled system where small-scale miners sold their gold to the board, which would then handle exports and repatriate foreign earnings.
“Mr Speaker, I believe also that this is not a policy that is in isolation. It is a policy that is being implemented together with other policies.
Recently, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources also announced the decentralisation of the land system of small-scale gold miners.
“Again, the finance minister brought this to Parliament and withdrew the withholding tax for the sale of gold by small-scale miners.
All these policies put together will give comfort to small-scale miners to sell their gold to this state entity so that we can achieve the objective of selling it abroad and bringing in foreign currency,” Mr Ayariga said.
