Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor has rejected claims that seek to downplay the role of former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia in the introduction of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
Mr Jinapor, who is also the Member of Parliament for Damongo, said the programme was conceived by Dr Bawumia at a time Ghana was facing severe economic difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.
In a Facebook post on Monday, August 31, he said Dr Bawumia, then Head of the Economic Management Team, held strategic meetings with relevant stakeholders before directing the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to engage stakeholders ahead of the programme’s formal launch on June 17, 2021.
According to Mr Jinapor, the programme represented a major departure from Ghana’s previous approach to accumulating gold reserves.
He explained that while the country had purchased gold from abroad when it sought to increase its reserves in 1960, the new programme allowed the Bank of Ghana to purchase gold locally from licensed aggregators and mining companies, paying them the Ghana cedi equivalent of the prevailing market price.
He said the programme had also significantly increased Ghana’s gold reserves, which stood at 8.77 tonnes when it was launched.
“Even though the Bank of Ghana’s target was to double this figure in five (5) years, as at December 2024, less than four (4) years into the implementation of this consequential Programme, the Bank of Ghana had almost quadrupled their reserves, from 8.77 tonnes to 30.53 tonnes,” he said.
Mr Jinapor further argued that the programme had contributed significantly to Ghana’s economic stability and external reserves.
Quoting current Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Asiama, he said the programme had “strengthened external buffers and macroeconomic stability” and had been “crucial to the stabilisation goal of the Bank of Ghana.”
He therefore urged the public record to reflect that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme was the brainchild of Dr Bawumia.