Gold Dealers Go To Court

The Association of Gold Exporters of Ghana (AGEG) will today, September 14, 2015 file a suit against the Bank of Ghana (BoG) over the latter�s recent appointment of the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) as the certifier for gold exports in the country. According to our sources, the association would file the suit to restrain BoG from giving PMMC the mandate to be the certifier of all gold exports at exactly 10am this morning. It is unclear which lawyer or law firm would represent the aggrieved gold exporters in court but BUSINESS GUIDE has gathered that they are fully prepared to take legal action against BoG to halt the unfair practice. The exporters contend that the appointment of PMMC as the new certifier for gold exports from Ghana will among others, render export licenses issued to them by the Minister of Lands and Minerals Resources on the advice of the Minerals Commission useless. The paper gathered that BoG�s decision has adversely affected the operations of AGEG members, hence its decision to take legal action to stop the process. The Minerals and Mining Law (Act 703, 2006) stipulates that the Minister of Lands and Mineral Resources, on the advice of the Mineral Commission, can issue licenses to gold exports. The Chairman of AGEG, Kwabena Asante-Asare, earlier told BUSINESS GUIDE that �PMMC is a competitor that also buys gold from small-scale miners for export and should not be made to appear to have the mandate to regulate and assess just because it is a state-owned enterprise.� He said the association finds the position of the BoG disturbing as per two letters from Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) to the bank which were copied to it. Mr. Asante-Asare also failed to confirm whether the suit would be filed today. According to sources, AGEG finds absolutely nothing wrong with BoG�s regulation of the inflow of gold exports in the country in a fair manner.