Member on Parliament Finance Committee, Atta Issah, has rejected claims by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that 16,000 ounces of gold are unaccounted for in Ghana’s gold reserves.
Member on Parliament Finance Committee, Atta Issah, has rejected claims by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that 16,000 ounces of gold are unaccounted for in Ghana’s gold reserves.
He insists there is no missing fiscal gold and argues that the discrepancy identified by the NPP is based on a flawed method of calculating the stock of gold.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Top Story on Tuesday, September 1, Mr Issah said the approach used by the Minority does not take into account gold disposals and therefore cannot be relied upon to establish a shortfall.
“First of all, there is no discrepancy with regards to the fiscal gold or any gold missing. There is nothing like that.”
He criticised the basis of the NPP’s calculation, arguing that it is not consistent with accepted accounting principles.
“How do you account for discrepancies when you haven’t taken notice of disposals? And that is not how trading account is prepared.”
Mr Issah said the relevant financial statements had already provided the necessary disclosures on the gold holdings and transactions.
He accused the Minority of making allegations based on assumptions rather than the contents of audited reports.
“The entire press conference was purely on conjectures. It did not focus mainly on the substance.”
Mr Issah urged anyone with concerns about the gold accounts to rely on the relevant sections of the auditors’ reports rather than calculations based on assumptions.
He maintained that the 16,000-ounce figure cited by the NPP does not establish that any gold has gone missing, insisting that the issue should be assessed using proper accounting and disclosure standards.
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