Mining consultant Wisdom Gomashie has criticised a technical report authored by Professor Ebo Turkson, which claims that increased gold purchases by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) are evidence of a significant reduction in gold smuggling.

In the report, Prof. Turkson stated that in 2025 alone, GoldBod purchased nearly 40 tonnes of gold—valued at about US$3.8 billion—that he argues would previously have been smuggled out of Ghana, thereby returning it to the formal economy.

Reacting to the report in a Facebook post on January 12, 2025, Mr Gomashie described the analysis as “unfortunate” and lacking academic rigour.

“So an increase in purchases from 63 tonnes in 2024 to 103 tonnes in 2025 means the difference of 40 tonnes was smuggled the previous year? This is weak and pedestrian analysis that would not pass academic scrutiny,” he wrote.

According to Mr Gomashie, higher purchase volumes alone do not provide sufficient evidence that gold smuggling has declined. He argued that the assumption that the additional 40 tonnes represents gold previously smuggled out of the country is fundamentally flawed.

He further cited several policy and regulatory factors that, in his view, undermine the report’s conclusions.

He questioned whether the analysis accounted for the fact that no new small-scale mining licences were issued in 2025, and noted that although the government claimed to have banned mining in forest reserves, illegal mining reportedly continued in such areas until December 2025, when Legislative Instrument 2462 was revoked.

Mr Gomashie added that the revocation of the instrument has not stopped illegal mining activities in forest reserves, further casting doubt on claims of reduced smuggling.

He concluded by questioning the credibility of the report, arguing that it does not accurately reflect the true state of Ghana’s mining sector.