The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has rejected suggestions that Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama’s departure from its Board of Directors signals a disagreement between the two institutions or problems within the gold-trading body.

In a Facebook post shared on Monday, September 28, GoldBod said a “wrong impression” was being created following Dr Asiama’s disclosure that he had resigned from the GoldBod board about five months earlier.

The Governor made the disclosure at the Bank of Ghana’s latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on September 24, where he said he no longer attended GoldBod board meetings. His comments followed questions about his membership of the board and concerns raised by the New Patriotic Party over a possible conflict of interest arising from his roles at the two institutions.

GoldBod, however, said Dr Asiama’s exit should be understood within the provisions of the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), which allows the BoG Governor to nominate a representative to the board.

According to GoldBod, Dr Asiama initially chose to serve personally on the board after the establishment of the institution.

However, because of his workload, he wrote to the GoldBod Board on May 11, 2026, nominating the BoG’s Second Deputy Governor, Mrs Matilda Asante-Asiedu, to represent him.

Section 4(e) of Act 1140 provides for the GoldBod Board to include “the Governor of the Bank of Ghana or a representative of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana not below the rank of a Director nominated by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana.” The official Act confirms that the provision allows representation by a nominated official rather than requiring the Governor to personally serve.

The Bank of Ghana Governor similarly explained at the MPC engagement that the law does not require him personally to sit on the board and that the central bank can be represented by another official of the appropriate rank.

GoldBod’s current board structure also reflects this provision, listing the Governor of the Bank of Ghana or his representative not below the rank of Director among the members.

GoldBod said the arrangement involving Dr Asiama is not unusual, pointing to similar changes in representation by other members of the board.

It said the Minister for Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, nominated Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem to represent him on the board from the outset because of his schedule.

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, initially served on the board personally but subsequently nominated the ministry’s Chief Director, Marcus Haligah, in January 2026.

GoldBod said these changes demonstrate that the Act allows the designated office-holders to use qualified representatives where they are unable to participate personally in board activities.

Against that background, GoldBod dismissed suggestions that Dr Asiama’s departure from the board was evidence of an internal crisis.

It said the fact that the Governor no longer personally sits on the board “does not mean that there is any ongoing rot at the GoldBod”, adding that there is also no fight between the BoG and GoldBod.

Instead, the institution said, Dr Asiama simply exercised the option provided under Act 1140 by nominating his Second Deputy Governor to represent him.

The clarification comes at a time of heightened public scrutiny of the relationship between GoldBod and the central bank, particularly over the financing of domestic gold purchases.

The BoG has confirmed that it ended its previous financing arrangement with GoldBod effective July 1, 2026, with the government subsequently assuming responsibility for funding the activities. The central bank nevertheless described GoldBod’s operations as important to Ghana’s exchange-rate management framework.

GoldBod also announced in August that it had ended its role as a buying agent for the BoG and had moved towards self-funded gold aggregation for export and reserve accumulation.

Despite the change in financing arrangements and Dr Asiama’s personal departure from its board, GoldBod said the two institutions continue to work closely.

Under Act 1140, GoldBod was established to oversee the buying, selling and export of gold and other precious minerals, promote value addition and responsible mining, support the accumulation of gold reserves by the Bank of Ghana and generate foreign exchange for the country.

GoldBod therefore urged the public not to interpret Dr Asiama’s change in board representation as evidence of an institutional dispute, stressing that the BoG remains represented on the GoldBod board through Mrs Asante-Asiedu.