It’s crime to trade gold without valid licence – Sammy Gyamfi

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Mr Sammy Gyamfi, has issued a warn­ing to all persons engaged in gold trading in the country, stating that effective immediately, it was a criminal offence to trade gold with­out a valid licence issued by GoldBod.

He said the previous licenses issued by the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) and the Ministry of Lands and Nat­ural Resources had been revoked.

Speaking at a press conference in Accra yesterday, he declared that the transitional phase of the new gold trading legal regime is over, and enforcement of the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), was in full force.

“If you are not licensed by the Ghana Gold Board, you are committing a crime if you buy or sell gold,” he emphasised.

Mr Gyamfi explained that although Gold­Bod initially adopted a gradual approach to implementation, the final, non-extendable deadline for licence applications passed on June 21, 2025.

While the deadline has passed, the CEO clarified that individuals and businesses can still apply for a licence through their website portal and it would be considered.

“However, trading in gold without the license is strictly prohibited and punishable by law. According to Section 63 of Act 1140, of­fenders are liable to a fine of between 50,000 and 200,000 penalty units, or a prison term of five to 10 years, or both,” he said.

As part of enforcement efforts, he an­nounced that the President would inaugurate a dedicated GoldBod Task Force on July 8, 2025 to conduct regular inspections and task enforcement of the sector.

“This special unit, operating under national security protocols, has powers equivalent to police officers and will be deployed perma­nently to gold trading hubs nationwide, their mandate is to combat illegal gold trading, smuggling, and price manipulation,” he added.

Mr Gyamfi revealed that over 300 Tier One buyer license applications have been received, along with 200 for Tier Two, and several for aggregator categories with more than 240 licenses approved and 123 already printed and issued.

He urged all approved applicants to promptly pay the required license fees via Ghana.gov to complete the issuance process and to collect their licenses at GoldBod head­quarters with valid identification.

The GoldBod CEO praised law-abiding traders and reiterated that only Ghanaian citizens were eligible for licenses as foreigners found flouting the law would no longer be deported but prosecuted fully.

He encouraged the public to verify licensed dealers through the repository tab on Gold­Bod’s website, which goes live on July 1, 2025.

Mr Gyamfi described the GoldBod ini­tiative as a non-partisan, national effort to protect Ghana’s natural wealth.

“Illegal gold traders are enemies of the state. Supporting GoldBod means supporting Ghana’s economic stability, forex reserves, and development,” he affirmed.

 BY KINGSLEY ASARE AND CECILIA YADA LAGBA

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