Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abdulai Jinapor has described the government’s Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP) as essentially a renaming of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme introduced under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.
Mr Jinapor, the MP for Damongo, made the claim in a Facebook post on Monday, August 31, in response to recent comments by NPP flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia on the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
The Damongo MP said he was compelled to set the record straight because he served as the Minister responsible for Mines when the programme was introduced.
According to him, the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme was conceived by Dr Bawumia as part of measures to strengthen Ghana’s gold and foreign exchange reserves during a period of severe economic challenges.
He said the programme was formally launched on June 17, 2021, at the then head office of the Bank of Ghana, following strategic engagements with relevant stakeholders.
Mr Jinapor said the programme had yielded significant results, with Ghana’s gold reserves rising from 8.77 tonnes at the time of its launch to 30.53 tonnes by December 2024.
He also cited the Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr Johnson Asiama, who, according to him, said in January 2026 that the programme had strengthened Ghana’s external buffers and contributed to macroeconomic stability.
The former minister further alleged that the new reserve accumulation policy had resulted in the sale of more than half of the gold accumulated under the previous programme.
“This Government’s ‘Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation policy (GANARAP),’ is nothing more than a renaming of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme,” he wrote.
Mr Jinapor said the distinction was important because, in his view, the reserves accumulated under the original programme had become a key pillar of Ghana’s current economic position.