The Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has stated that President John Dramani Mahama admitted to the GoldBod buying
According to Richard Ahiagbah, Mahama is presiding over the GoldBod purchasing gold from illegal miners.
Speaking on Citi FM’s The Big Issue on Saturday, September 13, Mr Ahiagbah stated, “One honest admission is that the president said that GoldBod is buying galamsey gold. That was admission from the president. That is a very terrible situation we have on our hands — that an entity established by law is engaged in business with an illegal enterprise. That is scandalous. That is something you want to impeach somebody about.”
“When we just removed a CJ because people processed her travel things for her. She didn’t process it herself… That one, you remove an individual from office for that. Now you are telling us that you have set up a GoldBod that is buying illegal gold, and that is okay.
“What I am saying is that the president is running away from fighting galamsey”, he confidently added.
Richard Ahiagbah also added that President Mahama is running away from fighting illegal mining, known locally as galamsey.
Mr Ahiagbah accused President Mahama of lacking the political will to tackle illegal mining.
He added, “Now President Mahama tells us that the state of emergency is not what we need, but somehow there are laws on the books that we have not exhausted, that we have not exercised, and I was left wondering — what are those laws?”.
“In trying to explain, he says we can still arrest people, confiscate. We have done all of that. We have arrested people.”
He added, “Everything has been done. So the question is, what law is President Mahama talking about on the books which have not been exercised? If there are any that have not been exercised, why is he not doing so? What is he waiting for?”
“Lack of interest in fighting the thing. Lack of interest”, Ahiagbah responded bluntly.
Also, the Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson, has said that Ghana’s gold could be blacklisted as blood gold.
Joe Jackson noted that if the world realises Ghana is not selling sustainable gold, the country could be blacklisted.
According to him, Goldbod, which was set up as a game changer, could fail if the Mahama government does not tackle illegal mining, locally known as galamsey, with the necessary urgency.
Speaking on TV3’s “The Key Points” on September 13, 2025, Joe Jackson explained, “If the rest of the world decides that we are selling gold that is not sustainable, we could be blacklisted. Gold board, which is supposed to be the game changer, could disappear simply because we have not tackled galamsey, and we are now blacklisted as selling unsustainable or, blood gold”.
“In the same way… It will not be only gold. Very soon, we may not be able to export certain food items. You will not be able to export cocoa. If you can’t export it because the heavy metals from illegal mining are leaking into the water bodies, it will greatly impact our economy and erode all successes the government has chalked in other sectors,” he added.
Mr Jackson further cited the Ghana Water Limited’s (GWL) request for a 280% tariff increase, and also pointed to the galamsey impact on the supply of water to Tema residents.
Joe Jackson lamented, “I live in Tema. Tema used to be the best place for utilities. Now, if you get three days’ water running through your pipes in a week, then it’s looking good for us. This is in the rainy season. I dare to think of what will happen in the dry season, and you find similar experiences all over. That’s the situation for water”.