Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Asiama has disclosed that he resigned from the Board of Directors of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) about five months ago, well before the New Patriotic Party (NPP) called for his removal from the board. Dr Asiama made the clarification in response to questions about his reported continued membership of the GoldBod Board, explaining that he no longer participates in meetings of the state-owned gold trading institution.
“I resigned from the GoldBod Board about five months ago or so. I do not attend, you know, board meetings at the GoldBod at all,” he said. His comments followed a call by former Finance Minister and Member of Parliament for Karaga, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, on Tuesday, September 1, for his removal from the GoldBod Board.
Dr Amin Adam and the NPP had argued that Dr Asiama’s dual positions as Governor of the Bank of Ghana and a reported member of the GoldBod Board created a potential conflict of interest, particularly because the central bank had been involved in financing GoldBod’s gold purchasing operations while also recording losses from the programme.
The former Finance Minister also called for greater transparency regarding the financial performance of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme and demanded clarity on the terms under which Ghana’s gold was sold. Dr Asiama, however, said he had ceased to be a member of the GoldBod Board approximately five months earlier. He also clarified that the law establishing GoldBod does not require the Bank of Ghana Governor personally to serve on the board.
“The law that governs the activities of the GoldBod, there’s a provision there for Bank of Ghana to be represented either by the Governor or any other official up to the rank of a director,” he said. “It does not necessarily need the Governor to be there.”
The Governor’s disclosure therefore provides context to the controversy surrounding his alleged continued membership of the GoldBod Board, with Dr Asiama maintaining that he resigned months before Dr Amin Adam’s September 1 call for his removal and has not participated in GoldBod board meetings since.
