The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the government to disclose the identities of foreign companies buying Ghana’s gold and publish the agreements governing the transactions.

The party is also demanding full details of the prices, discounts, financing arrangements and other commercial terms under which the gold is being sold, arguing that Ghanaians deserve transparency in the management and trading of the country’s mineral resources.

The call was made by a member of the NPP’s Policy Coordinating Committee on Finance and Economy and former Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, at a press conference yesterday.

Dr Amin Adam said making the information public would allow Ghanaians to determine whether the transactions were commercially beneficial to the country and whether the state was receiving adequate value for its gold.

“We want to know the names of the foreign buyers of Ghana’s gold and the discounts and commercial terms they were given. Those contracts must be published,” he said.

He alleged that discounts granted to foreign buyers had contributed to losses under the gold purchasing programme and questioned why the agreements had not been made available for public scrutiny.

The former Finance Minister also raised concerns about proposals to allow foreign buyers to pre-finance gold purchases, arguing that the arrangement could give buyers greater leverage in negotiations and influence the eventual selling price of Ghana’s gold.

“Allowing foreign buyers to pre-finance purchases of gold would deepen the very discounts that have been draining value from the programme,” he alleged.

Dr Amin Adam further questioned the financial implications of replacing Bank of Ghana financing with funding from commercial banks.

According to him, commercial bank financing would attract interest and guarantee charges, unlike the central bank financing which he said had previously been provided on an interest-free basis.

“Financing through commercial banks, as we now know they are doing, brings interest and guarantee costs because commercial banks will charge them. The Bank of Ghana pre-financed them interest-free. It is not going to be the same,” he stated.

The NPP has consequently asked the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, to clarify whether the government intends to guarantee the proposed financing arrangement and identify the legal authority under which such a guarantee would be issued.

“We are asking the Finance Minister whether the Ministry will guarantee this new financing and under what legal authority,” Dr Amin Adam said.

The party is also demanding greater transparency regarding the financial relationship between the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) and the Bank of Ghana.

Dr Amin Adam specifically called for the publication of the agreement covering the reported transfer of about GH¢133 billion in central bank funds through GoldBod.

“We have not seen that agreement. What are the terms between GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana?” he asked.

He maintained that the requested documents already existed and argued that some were subject to statutory disclosure requirements.

The NPP is further calling for GoldBod, the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance to undertake a joint reconciliation of the financial figures associated with the gold transactions.

According to Dr Amin Adam, the exercise should establish a clear account of the funds committed to the programme, revenues generated and losses incurred.

He said publishing the relevant contracts and financial information would strengthen transparency and enable Ghanaians to independently assess whether the country was receiving fair value for its gold.