Amid the controversy over the role GoldBod in “fuelling”, a natural resource governance expert, Dr. Steve Manteaw, is strongly challenging claims by Prof. Stephen Adei that the initiative is a backdoor attempt at legitimising galamsey.
The renowned Ghana Professor had earlier argued that GoldBod effectively legalises illegal small-scale mining, widely known as galamsey. He claimed that by buying gold “from small-scale miners,” GoldBod may also be absorbing gold from illegal miners, rather than stopping the environmental destruction.
He insisted that if the government truly knew how to distinguish between “genuine” small-scale miners and illicit operators, it should have enforced the law instead of setting up a buyer that can’t, or won’t, make that distinction.
But in a sharp rebuttal to the claims, Dr. Manteaw suggests Prof. Adei may have spoken without fully understanding the purpose of the new scheme or the safeguards built around it.
He also argues that much of the criticism ignores what the GoldBod law actually says and the systems it seeks to build.
According to him, the GoldBod Act is designed to clean up the way gold is sourced, purchased, and tracked, not to excuse illegal mining. He notes that the institution is already reviewing proposals for a traceability framework that will follow gold from the point of digging all the way to the market.
With this in mind, Dr. Manteaw poses a set of probing questions back to Prof. Adei, questions he believes must be answered before anyone concludes that GoldBod is a tool for encouraging galamsey.
“Prof Stephen Adei’s claim that the president has legalized galamsey by establishing the GoldBod, betrays his ignorance of the rationale for the establishment of the GoldBod and its mandate. His commentary on the subject, again, suggests that he has not read the GoldBod Act, and therefore he’s oblivious of measures outlined in the Act to ensure that illegally mined gold does not enter the supply chain,” Dr. Manteaw pushed back.
“How can an Act, which requires the establishment of a gold traceability system, which includes the documentation of the chain of custody from mine head to the market, be intended to legalize galamsey?” he quizzed.
To him, the answer to this question is not minor details. They go to the heart of what GoldBod is meant to do, which includes setting rules that make it harder, not easier, for illegally mined gold to slip into the system.
Dr. Manteaw’s remarks introduce a fresh layer of scrutiny, which is also aimed at diffusing the stance of Prof. Adei.
“How can an entity whose policy and operational instruments are aligned with the OECD guidelines on Responsible Mineral Sourcing and the FATF requirements on Customer Due Diligence be described as intended to legalize galamsey,” he further probed.
With these questions, he insists that the claim of Prof. Adei cannot be closer to the truth, as the Goldbod system is built to curb illegal mining and not fuel it.
