Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama on July 8 unveiled a new whistleblower reward scheme that offers citizens 10% of the value of recovered gold in cash if they report smuggling activities, as the country battles an estimated $11.4bn in lost revenue over five years due to illegal exports.
Ghana’s gold sector, long plagued by illegal mining and illicit export networks, has been under heightened scrutiny as the government seeks to curb capital flight and meet revenue targets under its economic recovery programme with the IMF.
According to Daily Graphic, the initiative was announced at the launch of the Ghana Gold Board Task Force in Accra, part of a sweeping effort to clamp down on illicit trade in the country’s biggest export commodity.
“If you blow the whistle and gold or money is retrieved, you will get 10 per cent of its value,” Mahama said. “This is not just a policy; it’s a national call to duty. Ghanaians must be the first to benefit from the gold beneath our soil.”
The move follows a recent audit that uncovered a staggering 229-metric-tonne gap between Ghana’s official gold export data and what international trading partners recorded - pointing to widespread underreporting and smuggling. Ghana, one of Africa’s top gold producers, is under pressure to plug financial leakages and improve transparency in its minerals sector.
“These losses cannot continue,” Mahama said. “We are taking control of our mineral wealth, and this task force is central to enforcing the law....
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