Information available to us indicate that about four years ago, the Land Commission granted permission to some private companies to enable them export gold, but we are calling for its immediate revocation.
Because of this blanket permission, these exporters, mainly foreigners illegally enter the mining communities and buy gold from the small scale miners and export it after under-declaring the quantity they were exporting, and smuggle large quantities also.
The result is that Ghana lost U$3.6 billion in revenue through smuggling of the commodity between January 2014 and January 2016, according to an Accra Business Weekly.
During the two-year period, about 101,174 kilogrammes of gold were smuggled out of Ghana to India alone.
The Zauba Technologies and Data Services of India is said to have statistics indicating how Gold was smuggled from Ghana to India.
How do we lose U$3.6 billion in two years and go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with cup in hand begging for an amount lower than the amount lost through the smuggling of Gold?
We pause for answers to these questions also:
*Where on earth has national authorities given a blanket permission for the smuggling of their precious commodity like gold?
* Was this unregulated permission approved by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources?
*How has those who granted the permission benefited from this wholesale exportation and smuggling of gold?
It is unfortunate that officialdom has allowed most Ghanaians to suffer untold deprivations, while a few hide behind the colour of their offices to fantabulously enrich themselves.
Suffering in the midst of plenty has been the fate of Ghanaians all these decades due to the mismanagement of the country’s resources, and or allowing foreigners to exploit our people.
Heinously, the exporters fail to remit their foreign money to Ghana, and instead use the Cedi to buy the gold, thus bringing more pressure on the Cedi.
It is unfortunate that the Precious Mineral Marketing Commission (PMMC) which was established in 1953 as a Limited Liability Company with the Ghana Government as the sole shareholder, has no machinery to check gold smuggling.
It has also been established that in its efforts to curb gold smuggling, the Bank of Ghana instructed all gold exporters to channel their exports through the PMMC, but this was overturned by an Accra High Court.
The Catholic Standard feels that Ghanaians need unalloyed explanation from both the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and the Lands Commission on this blanket permission which has encouraged gold smuggling from Ghana.
We are of the view that if the export of gold cannot be controlled, it should as well remain in the bowels of the earth.
