This Saturday on Newsfile, we’re taking you past the headlines, to the center of 2 controversies shaping Ghana’s financial and environmental long term: the Internatonal Monetary Fund (IMF) alarm over loads of hundreds of thousands misplaced in a gold-for-reserves scheme, and a sour nationwide debate over whether or not the struggle in opposition to unlawful mining beneath President Mahama is popping the tide or letting the risk deepen.

The IMF’s most up-to-date 5th evaluate of Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme has raised purple flags in regards to the Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) programme, noting US$214 million in cumulative losses thru end-September 2025 related to transactions involving artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold and off-taker charges beneath the scheme.

According to the IMF, those losses, most commonly from buying and selling shortfalls and GoldBod off-takers’ charges, pose “significant downside risks” to the Bank of Ghana’s steadiness sheet if left unchecked.

Senior lawmakers and analysts are already hard responsibility. The Minority Caucus in Parliament is asking for a bipartisan inquiry into the reported losses, urging scrutiny of ways Ghana’s gold reserves programme is structured and whether or not it exposes the general public handbag to undue monetary possibility.

GoldBod’s Chief Executive, Sammy Gyamfi, and Bank of Ghana officers have driven again, pronouncing claims of losses are speculative and untimely till exterior audits are whole, and emphasising the programme’s function in increasing Ghana’s reserves.

This Saturday, Newsfile asks: Are those losses a structural flaw in a well-intentioned programme, or a symptom of deeper governance and pricing issues in how we purchase and arrange gold? And what does it imply for Ghana’s financial balance in 2026?

As the IMF eyes gold programme dangers, environmentalists and critics argue that Ghana’s unlawful mining disaster (galamsey), stays a profound nationwide risk, with blended indicators beneath President Mahama’s market.

The President has time and again pledged to “never give up the fight” in opposition to unlawful mining, pronouncing pilot land-reclamation initiatives and emphasizing choice livelihoods to cut back dependence on illegal actions.

Yet critics, together with civil-society coalitions and environmental teams, contend technology is simply too sluggish and penalties too critical. They name for more potent motion, together with ecocide rules, land reclamation mandates, and a long way more difficult consequences for unlawful miners.

Data presentations that woodland lands, water our bodies, and agricultural methods proceed to endure well-liked harm, elevating questions on enforcement intensity and political will.

Meanwhile, NAIMOS and safety taskforces have carried out centered raids on infamous galamsey websites, arresting armed operators and disrupting unlawful actions, but the wider disaster persists with requires extra decisive nationwide motion.

The central query now could be stark: after just about a 12 months of heightened rhetoric and enforcement directives, is Ghana in truth successful the struggle in opposition to galamsey, or has the risk merely tailored and worsened beneath our watch? What should trade in 2026 to transport from rhetoric to effects?

Newsfile airs live to tell the tale the JoyNews channel on virtual satellite tv for pc channels 421 on DSTV and 144 on GoTV, and streams on JoyNews’ Facebook or YouTube channels on Saturdays from 9 am to midday.

Viewers too can practice the dialogue by way of tuning in to Joy 99.7 FM or Luv 99.5 FM at the radio or circulation the dialogue live to tell the tale both Google or Apple Podcasts.

Newsfile is your maximum authoritative information research programme.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by way of Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.

DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by way of Readers and Contributors in this platform don’t essentially constitute the perspectives or coverage of Multimedia Group Limited.