Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the finance minister, has said the former vice president, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s Gold-for-Oil was a sham.
Ato Forson revealed that the former Akufo-Addo Bawumia government were largely paying suppliers of crude oil and petroleum products in cash.
He boldly emphasised that suppliers of crude oil were never paid with gold.
According to Ato Forson, someone sitting somewhere in the Emirates was supplying the Chamber Bulk Oil Distribution, and then they give cedi to the BoG, and it pays dollars.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, Ato Forson detailed, “It didn’t work properly. The Bank of Ghana were largely paying the suppliers of crude oil and petroleum products in cash. That was what they were doing. They never paid them with gold, never, never”.
“Actually, someone sitting somewhere in the Emirates was supplying the Chamber Bulk Oil Distribution (CBOD). And then CBOD will be paying. They give the cedi to the BoG, and it pays the dollars. That’s it”.
He explained, “Pure trade. Nothing more than what they were touting. It was far from what they were touting. There was no barter where gold was going to change for oil? No, nothing of the sort happened”.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, however, noted that the NPP was keeping gold, leading to the increase in gold reserves.
He added, “Oh yes, yes, I asked. They were keeping some gold. You could see that their gold reserves increased. That was a fact”.
“They were keeping the gold that they were buying. The central bank was buying gold. They call it gold for reserves. There was no real barter. Nothing of the sort happened.”
“BoG buys gold and keeps the gold. It is different from buying the gold, exporting the gold and bringing the Forex. I hear people comparing these two policies, but they are two different policies. It doesn’t mean the same”.
“I’m not aware that there was a direct barter. There was no direct barter. I’m telling you for a fact, there was no barter”, Dr. Forson clarified.
However, the former vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in office, stated that the success of the Gold-for-Oil programme cannot be ignored.
Dr Bawumia argued that without the policy, Ghana’s economy would have collapsed.
Dr. Bawumia, in a media encounter on Sunday, August 25, 2024, held in Accra, stated boldly, “Without the gold purchase program and the gold-for-oil programme, this economy would have collapsed”.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana has withdrawn from the former vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s Gold for Oil programme following a GH¢1.82 billion loss.
Reports suggest the decision was made during a board meeting on March 13, 2025.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG )recorded a GHS 1.82 billion loss on the Gold-for-Oil program in 2024, nearly 500% higher than the GHS 317 million loss in 2023.
Dr Johnson Asiama, the governor of the Bank of Ghana, had earlier suspended the Gold-for-Oil program.
There have been reports that Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s Gold for Oil program has allegedly suffered a staggering $90 million loss.
According to reports from the Ghana Chronicles, the situation escalated when a licensed company tasked with purchasing gold for the initiative allegedly vanished with the funds.
They further indicated that the revelations reportedly emerged during transition meetings as the Mahama administration assumed office.
It has also emerged that the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) and its management, led by its former Managing Director, Dr Edwin Alfred Nii Obodai Provencal, are also reportedly implicated in the Gold for Oil programme’s mismanagement and financial losses.
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