Private legal practitioner, Eric Dawda, has filed a lawsuit at the High Court to compel the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to provide comprehensive data regarding its multi-billion-cedi gold purchase operations.
Invoking the court’s supervisory jurisdiction through a mandamus application filed, the Applicant is seeking an order to force the state-mandated sole gold buyer to disclose its procurement list, licensing frameworks, and internal financial controls.
This legal escalation follows what the lawyer describes as a persistent refusal by GoldBod to comply with a Right to Information (RTI) request submitted earlier, a silence that persisted even after the matter was escalated to the Right to Information Commission.
“I filed a right to information request at Goldbod with same being unresponded to. I petitioned the Right to Information Commission for redress but same has been unattended to by the commission. I thus seek orders from the Court directed at Goldbod for answers to purchases of gold from miners.”
Eric Dawda
The suit, which targets an institution established only in 2025 to centralize the small-scale gold trade, aims to peel back the veil on the “inflows and outflows” of the entity since its inception.
Mr. Dawda’s affidavit emphasizes that despite GoldBod’s role as the exclusive off-taker of gold from small-scale miners, there is an alarming lack of public data regarding which specific licensed companies are benefiting from these state transactions.
By demanding a granular list that includes “the name of the miner or company, license number, date(s) of transaction(s), volume of gold sold and location,” the application seeks to verify whether the institution is truly fulfilling its mandate of formalizing the sector or if it has inadvertently become a conduit for unregulated mineral flows.
Transparency as a Catalyst for Sector Integrity
In the high-stakes environment of Ghana’s extractive industry, the demand for “policy and operational documents governing the sale and purchase of gold” is not merely a legal exercise but a necessary safeguard for national sovereignty.
For an agency like GoldBod, which manages significant foreign exchange and commodity reserves, transparency acts as a deterrent against the “smuggling and illegal sourcing” that has historically plagued the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector.
By forcing the disclosure of “particulars of gold exported” and “control mechanisms regarding finance,” the legal move ensures that the state’s monopoly on gold exports translates into actual economic stability rather than opaque bureaucratic accumulation.
Furthermore, this mandamus application strengthens the pillars of the RTI Act (Act 989) by demonstrating that public institutions cannot remain “unattended” to the law.
When a legal practitioner demands “any internal or public policy documents, guidelines, or official directives,” it forces a standardization of the “assaying, valuing, and exporting” processes.
In an era where GoldBod is deploying blockchain for traceability, such legal oversight ensures that the digital record matches the physical reality of the mines.
This accountability is vital to maintaining the “integrity of the supply chain” and protecting the interests of genuine, licensed miners who are often overshadowed by illicit operators.
Enhancing Accountability in the Extractive Value Chain
The relevance of sourcing information cannot be overstated as Ghana positions itself as a global leader in responsible mineral trade. Disclosure of a “procurement plan” and “licensing frameworks” allows civil society and industry analysts to audit the efficiency of the state’s interventions.
Without access to the specific “volumes of gold sold and the region/district of the miner,” it becomes nearly impossible to track the environmental footprint of the gold entering the national reserve.
This information gap often fuels allegations of laundering “proceeds of illegal mining,” making the court’s intervention a critical step in clearing GoldBod’s reputation through verifiable data.
Ultimately, the lawsuit serves as a reminder that the “sole and exclusive mandate” granted to GoldBod under Act 1140 must be balanced with the public’s right to know how national wealth is being managed.
As the court prepares to hear the motion, the extractive sector watches closely; a ruling in favor of Mr. Dawda would set a powerful precedent for “financial and administrative” openness across all state enterprises.
For a nation looking to optimize revenues from its 90-ton ASM output, knowing exactly where every gram comes from is the only way to ensure that gold remains a “national blessing” rather than a catalyst for environmental and fiscal decay.
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