Ken Ashigbey commends Goldbod for flushing out smugglers, illegal gold trading kingpins

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, has commended the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) for instituting strict compliance measures that have contributed to curbing gold smuggling and targeting key perpetrators behind illegal gold trading in the country.

According to Ing. Ashigbey, the establishment of GoldBod has not only contributed to economic stability but has also helped promote a more transparent gold trading system.

Speaking on TV3’s news analysis programme Key Point, and supporting GoldBod CEO Sammy Gyamfi’s claims about the agency’s reforms to sanitise the gold trade, Ing. Ashigbey said GoldBod’s efforts to curb smuggling were particularly significant.

“For me, one of the things the GoldBod has been able to do well is to curb smuggling. So if they can also help curb the illegal gold from getting into the system, what will happen is that those people will not have demand and it will kill their business,” he stated.

Ing. Ashigbey also praised the state-owned agency for maintaining its enforcement efforts and pursuing major players involved in illegal gold trading.

“If you talk about real enforcement, one of the people that has done enforcement in the area that they are, then it is the GoldBod,” he said.

He added that GoldBod’s approach to dealing with suspected smugglers could provide lessons for the fight against illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.

“In terms of the smugglers, you see the way when they catch anybody they hit them hard? If also the fight against galamsey we emulate the way the GoldBod goes after the people… and look at them, they are the people catching the kingpins, they catch the big guys,” he stated.

Ing. Ashigbey argued that eliminating the demand for illegally mined gold could help undermine the business model of those operating outside the legal framework.

“If the same thing they are doing, we could bring also in tightening the loose ends, there are a lot of those people who are into the bush will stop because we won’t buy their gold anymore,” he added.

The Ghana Gold Board has, since its establishment, intensified efforts to combat gold smuggling and illegal trading through enforcement operations and stricter compliance measures.

One of the latest operations resulted in the arrest of an American citizen, Smart Philander; a Moroccan national, Nina Elfseky; and four Ghanaian accomplices — Nana Yaw Sarpong Boateng, Sowa Elisha, Evans Arhin, and Arnold Otutey — for allegedly engaging in gold trading in Ghana without the required licence.

The arrests took place at the SSNIT Emporium near Marina Mall in Accra following weeks of surveillance and intelligence operations by the GoldBod Taskforce.

The suspects were allegedly caught attempting to purchase and assay about 2.1 kilograms of gold valued at approximately GH¢2.2 million without the requisite licence under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140).

During the operation, the Taskforce also discovered gold refining equipment in the possession of the American suspect, which GoldBod said indicated an intention to illegally refine gold within Ghana.