By Benjamin Makafui Attipoe, Ho
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region has called on President John Dramani Mahama to remove the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, from office, or at least publicly reprimand him over what the party describes as misconduct in public office. The Volta Regional Chairman of the NPP, Hon. Makafui Kofi Woanyah, made the call at a press conference held at the party’s regional office in Ho.
The conference, which was attended by some regional and constituency executives as well as party supporters and faithfuls, was convened to register the party’s displeasure with what it described as Sammy Gyamfi’s conduct and President Mahama’s failure to take decisive action against him.
According to Mr. Woanyah, no presidential appointee should consider himself superior to ordinary citizens or lawmakers who demand accountability on matters of public interest. He said Ghanaians who ask questions about the management of the country’s gold resources were exercising their constitutional right as citizens and should not be treated as subjects or servants of any public official.
The NPP Regional Chairman was particularly critical of what he described as Mr. Gyamfi’s alleged verbal attacks on the Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who he said was a son of Tsiame in the Keta Municipality and, by extension, a son of the Volta Region. Mr. Woanyah said the NPP in the region would not remain silent when a prominent son of the region was allegedly subjected to insults while performing his parliamentary duties.
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He argued that the Minority Leader and other Members of Parliament had every right to demand answers on issues concerning the management of the country’s resources.
The NPP Chairman further accused Mr. Gyamfi of using a state platform to attack a lawmaker instead of responding to questions surrounding the alleged US$1.7 billion loss associated with gold sale activities.
He described such conduct, if established, as contrary to the government’s own Code of Ethics and urged President Mahama to demonstrate that the code applied equally to all presidential appointees. “Breaching that Code of Ethics must have consequences,” Mr. Woanyah said, arguing that without consequences, the code would amount to mere decoration. He therefore demanded the removal of Mr. Gyamfi from office or, at the very least, a public reprimand by President Mahama.
Mr. Woanyah also raised concerns about a viral video in which Mr. Gyamfi was seen handing dollar bills to controversial public figure Nana Agradaa. He questioned the source of the money and criticised what he described as the Presidency’s limited response to the incident. According to him, the matter deserved greater accountability, particularly in view of subsequent concerns surrounding the management of the country’s gold resources.
The NPP Regional Chairman said the party would continue to demand accountability from public officials and would not remain silent on issues it considered to be in the interest of the Ghanaian people.
He said the party in the Volta Region stood firmly behind Alexander Afenyo-Markin and would continue to support calls for transparency and accountability in the management of the country’s resources.
Mr. Woanyah further urged President Mahama to use the matter to demonstrate his commitment to enforcing the Code of Ethics for government appointees.
He said Ghanaians were watching to see whether the President would take action or allow what he described as unacceptable conduct by an appointee to go unchecked.
