The Managing Director of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC), Mr Sammy Gyamfi, has warned gold smugglers to cease their operations or face the full rigours of the law.
He said, government through the establishment of the Gold Board (GOLDBOD), would streamline gold exports and check illicit trade, adding that, any person who smuggled gold, commits an offence and liable to a minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years.
Mr Gyamfi gave the warning at a stakeholders’ engagement held at Tarkwa in the Western Region, on Friday, on the
to-be-established (GOLDBOD), aimed at streamlining the gold trading sector in Ghana.
The event, which brought together gold buyers, small-scale miners, commercial mining companies and chiefs, was to address misinformation and misconceptions, clarify the objectives and benefits of the GOLDBOD, solicit inputs, gather feedback and suggestions from stakeholders on the GOLDBOD Bill.
He said “We know where you are, and soon, we will be tracking you. So don’t be tempted to smuggle the gold. There will no black market. No foreigner will be given an aggregator to buy gold. Foreigners are enjoying from the gold Industry, and why should we allow this? If you want to buy gold, go the GOLDBOD.”
Mr Gyamfi told participants that, the GOLDBOD would have the powers of entry, inspections, audit, search, seizure, confiscation, detention and arrest, subject to the constitution, and, in collaboration with other relevant state agencies.
He, therefore, urged the industry to support GOLDBOD in order to inject sanity into Ghana’s gold trade and Forex to stabilise the cedi, improve the economy and welfare of miners “who are the bulwark of the economy.”
He added that: “when we arrest you, you will lose your gold and your future prospects. Come for the licence and we will give you money to buy the gold,” the PMMC MD explained.
The GOLDBOD, Mr Gyamfi envisaged, was capable of bringing Forex inflows of between $4 billion to $6 billion per annum at the current market rate through strategic forward sales of gold from the small scale mining sector to support forex accumulation and exchange rate management by the Bank of Ghana.
Furthermore, he emphasized that GOLDBOD would have the right to buy all portion of gold production by large scale mining companies in line with government’s peremptory rights.
This arrangement, he said, could significantly augment the Forex and gold reserve accumulation programme of the BOG for a stronger national economy.
Moreover, he told the participants that GOLDBOD would issue licences to persons engaged in a business or related activity in gold trading and marketing industry or an ancillary business activity.
These include the aggregator licence, buying license, refining license, export partnership license, storage license and importation license.
The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners, Godwin Armah, called on all stakeholders to ensure the success of the GOLDBOD initiative for it to be passed into law.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, TARKWA
