A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) national communications team, Kwasi Kwarteng, has said the extortion allegations involving Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin should not distract from questions surrounding the reported $1.7 billion loss under the Domestic Gold Purchasing Programme.

He said the allegations made by Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) CEO Sammy Gyamfi, even if proven, would have no bearing on whether the reported loss occurred.

Kwarteng was speaking on Accra-based JoyNews’ AM Show on Monday, August 24, amid the ongoing exchanges between Mr Gyamfi and the Minority Leader over the GoldBod controversy.

“Let’s even assume for the purpose of this conversation, without admitting, it is immaterial, insignificant, inconsequential, and irrelevant to the substantive matter on the table,” he said.

The NPP communicator argued that the two issues could be treated separately, with the alleged defamatory or extortion-related conduct addressed independently from questions about the financial performance of the Domestic Gold Purchasing Programme.

According to him, the central issue remains whether GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana incurred the reported losses and what accounted for them.

“Bottom line is that is there a loss? Whether it was a Ministry of Education loss or it was a Buffer Stock loss, bottom line is that there was a loss,” he said.

Mr Kwarteng also clarified reports that Mr Afenyo-Markin had been summoned by the NPP Minority Caucus over the extortion allegations.

He said he had spoken to the Minority Leader before appearing on the programme and that Afenyo-Markin had denied being summoned.

According to Mr Kwarteng, Mr Afenyo-Markin explained that he had called the caucus meeting as part of the normal preparations ahead of Parliament’s sitting.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has said it is assessing the extortion allegations made against Afenyo-Markin to determine whether they fall within its statutory mandate and whether further investigative action is warranted.