Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil has commended President John Dramani Mahama as he chalks his first term in office.

He however cautioned that Ghana’s recent economic improvements, while positive, remain limited and that the real challenges lie ahead.

Speaking on TV3’s Keypoints, Bentil described the change in the economy as “therapeutic,” even if the government had taken no action.

“Even if this government did nothing, the change itself was therapeutic. The real challenge is what happens in the next three years,” he said.

Bentil noted that although the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (Goldbod) has achieved results, its impact on the cedi has been modest.

“Goldbod has done something, but the effect on the Cedi is less than 10 per cent… globally, the dollar has depreciated,” he explained. “It is not surprising; the challenges are what happen in the next three years.”

Highlighting Ghana’s dependence on gold exports, Bentil added, “Because Ghana’s exports are so dominated by gold, and exports are an important factor in exchange rate movements, we must bear in mind that gold prices rose over 70 per cent in 2025 alone.”

He also flagged concerns over budget allocations. “Its undisbursed 2025 budget allocation of US$279 million would last less than one year,” Bentil said.

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has disclosed that some leading members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) are happy with the National Democratic Congress handling the country.

According to him, they only come out to make noise just because they have to engage in politics and cannot be seen singing the praises of their opponents.

“We talk to them quietly, and they tell you, Edudzi, what you have done to the dollar is something good. They tell us quietly, but they come out to make noise, and that is understandable in politics.

If you come and you are always singing the praises of President Mahama, who will consider you for anything? And so deliberately you can see the benefits to our people,” he said on TV3.

He noted that the change in government in 2024 was an imperative, as it has exposed the New Patriotic Party and has allowed for accountability in the country.

Award-winning filmmaker and director Leila Djansi has criticised the structural direction of the Ghanaian and Nigerian film industries, describing them as self-serving systems that prioritise individual gain over long-term creative growth.

In a late-night reflection shared after working across multiple time zones, Djansi said she observed a troubling pattern in both industries.

“The Ghanaian and Nigerian film industries have become structurally self-serving,” she stated.

She pointed to the dominance of individual YouTube platforms as evidence. “Every major player owning a plot of land on YouTube is evidence of this. Self-serving. Tribal-serving. Wealth-serving.”

According to Djansi, this structure has resulted in repetitive content driven by algorithms rather than artistic purpose.

“The result is repetitive genres optimised for algorithm survival, not cinematic longevity,” she said, adding, “Fast production. Fast turnover. No memory. No canon.”

She argued that such a system fails to build institutions or preserve creative heritage.

“That structure doesn’t build institutions, share libraries or lasting studios. It builds silos. That’s why they collapse inward.”

Djansi warned that without protection for craft, the industry will continue to decline. “There’s no protection for craft because it’s about individual survival. So the industries grow backward.”

Filmmaker Leila Djansi has called for a fundamental shift in how African film industries are organised, urging a move away from ego-driven production toward collective systems that prioritise storytelling.

Comparing Anglophone West African cinema to other global industries, Djansi noted that successful film ecosystems are built on structure, not personalities.

“Now look at Francophone Africa, East Africa, South Africa, Bollywood, Hollywood, Europe,” she said. “Those industries were not built around individuals. They were built around systems.”

She cited funding frameworks, guilds and development pipelines as key drivers of sustainability. “Systems that protect excellence and submit to story,” she explained in Facebook post sighted by MyNewsGh.

Djansi also criticised what she described as an obsession with Western validation. “Always looking to the West.

“Not for collaboration, but for validation. Not participation,” she said, mocking popular slogans such as “Ghana to the world” and “we’re on the map.”

According to her, true film excellence requires discipline and collective purpose. “Film excellence is not self-serving. It is collective. It disciplines ego. It delays gratification. It serves story,” she stated.

She concluded by reaffirming her guiding principle as a filmmaker: “Because ultimately, story is king.”

Djansi ended her reflection by outlining her personal focus for the year ahead: “My 2026 is for faith, film, food and family.”

Public relations specialist and staunch NDC member Dzifa Gunu has challenged claims made by Minority spokesperson Kojo Oppong Nkrumah on the controversy surrounding Goldbod, insisting that the former Information Minister failed to back his allegations when given the opportunity to do so.

In a Facebook post reacting to the ongoing debate and sighted by MyNewsGh, Dzifa stated, “Let it be known that Kojo Oppong Nkrumah was invited to News File to defend his claim against Goldbod, he chickened out.”

Her comment places direct focus on credibility and accountability, questioning why a public official who raised serious allegations would avoid a platform designed for public scrutiny.

Dzifa’s remarks come against the backdrop of growing political tension over concerns raised by the Minority caucus about Goldbod’s operations.

At a press conference held on Monday, December 29, the Minority alleged that the state may have lost hundreds of millions of dollars, with the losses potentially tied to environmental breaches and illegal mining activities.

Addressing the media at the time, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah warned that the arrangement under scrutiny could be facilitating the purchase of illegally mined gold.

“There are environmental issues that have to be dealt with,” he said, arguing that urgent action was needed to prevent public funds from supporting unlawful mining.

The Minority further claimed that existing gaps in oversight had created room for abuse. “As of now, we have every reason to believe that state money is being used to buy galamsey gold,” Oppong Nkrumah stated, adding that the caucus would push for immediate regulatory intervention.

He outlined proposed measures including a suspension of permits within forest reserves and the introduction of stronger traceability systems to track gold sources.

According to him, weaknesses in transparency within the current framework have contributed to environmental damage and financial risk to the state.

It is within this context that Dzifa Gunu’s intervention shifts the focus from the substance of the allegations to the responsibility of those making them.

By pointing out Oppong Nkrumah’s absence from News File, a programme known for rigorous public debate, Dzifa framed the issue as one of accountability, arguing that serious claims demand public defence, not press conference soundbites.

Sammy Gyamfi used his appearance on Newsfile monitored by MyNyewsGh to confront what he described as “deliberate misinformation” surrounding Bower Rock Company Limited, the firm at the heart of the GoldBod controversy.

According to the GoldBod CEO, claims that the company was hastily formed in 2025 for rent-seeking purposes were false and unsupported by evidence.

“Bower Rock Company Limited is a company incorporated under the laws of Ghana on the 14th of January 2015,” Gyamfi stated, stressing that its existence predates the GoldBod by nearly a decade.

He explained that Bower Rock’s corporate documents clearly list dealing in precious minerals as a principal activity, alongside mining and trading.

“When you hear people say this company has nothing to do with gold trading, it is simply not true,” he said, adding that documentary proof had been submitted to Newsfile producers.

Gyamfi further traced the company’s operational history, noting that it obtained its first gold trading licence from the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) in March 2016 and renewed that licence annually through 2025.

“This is not a mushroom company,” he insisted.

To reinforce the point, he cited Bower Rock’s participation in the Minerals Income Investment Fund’s gold-for-reserves programme under the previous administration.

“They were among the major gold suppliers to aggregators under MIIF in 2024 when the NPP was in power,” he said.

For Gyamfi, the documentary trail settles the matter. “These are records. These are facts. And anybody who says otherwise is either uninformed or intentionally misleading the public.”

Amid accusations that GoldBod had appointed a single company to monopolise gold purchases, Sammy Gyamfi said critics were misunderstanding or misrepresenting the institution’s operational model.

“GoldBod has a four-tier gold buying system,” he explained on Newsfile monitored by MyNewsGh. “So when people say Bower Rock is the only one buying gold, they simply lack information.”

According to Gyamfi, GoldBod issued 900 buying licences in 2025 alone, spanning Tier One grassroots buyers, Tier Two buyers, self-financing aggregators, and aggregators. Bower Rock, he said, falls only within the final category.

“There were 31 applications for aggregator licences,” Gyamfi revealed. “Only Bower Rock met the eligibility criteria.”

He emphasised that becoming an aggregator is fundamentally different from other licences because it allows access to state funds.

“This is not a privilege we hand out casually,” he said. “An aggregator must provide a bank or insurance guarantee to secure taxpayers’ money.”

In Bower Rock’s case, Gyamfi disclosed that the company provided an advance payment guarantee covering GH¢2 billion. “That is why the board approved the application,” he said.

He rejected suggestions of exclusivity, noting that the process remains open. “Today we have one aggregator. Tomorrow we can have ten, or even zero, if licences are revoked or new applicants qualify.”

For Gyamfi, the controversy reflects a deeper misunderstanding of risk management. “We are not a zombie institution where any Tom, Dick and Harry walks in and gets billions of cedis,” he said.

Goldbod CEO Sammy Gyamfi firmly rejected claims that GoldBod has incurred losses or transferred liabilities to the Bank of Ghana’s books, describing such assertions as “illogical.”

“Emphatically, no, GoldBod has not made any losses,” he stated on Joy Prime’s Newsfile monitored by MyNewsGh

He explained that GoldBod operates as an agent under the Bank of Ghana’s Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) programme, which was introduced in 2022, long before GoldBod’s establishment. “That programme has always sat on the books of the Bank of Ghana,” he said.

According to Gyamfi, GoldBod accounts for every cedi it receives. “We deliver the gold equivalent, we get paid our agency fees, and that is why we declare surplus, not profit,” he explained.

For 2025, he disclosed that GoldBod generated about GH¢960 million in revenue, with expenditure below GH¢120 million.

“We are on course to declare a surplus of not less than GH¢700 million,” he said, noting that audited accounts would be published by March 2026 as required by law.

On reported losses under the G4R programme, Gyamfi argued that these were not due to mismanagement. “Any cost incurred under G4R is a product of policy design, not incompetence,” he said.

He explained that the central bank deliberately buys gold at spot prices to attract supply and accumulate foreign exchange.

“This is a non-profit monetary policy initiative designed to stabilise the economy,” he said.

In a broader defence of the Gold-for-Reserves programme, Sammy Gyamfi said Ghana must stop treating accounting costs as failures and instead assess policy outcomes.

“The purpose of G4R was never profit,” he said on Newsfile monitored by MyNewsGh. “It was about foreign exchange accumulation and economic stability.”

He traced the programme’s origins to Ghana’s 2022 crisis, when debt defaults, currency depreciation, and market exclusion made dollar borrowing impossible. “Without reserves, your currency is dead,” Gyamfi said.

Under G4R, the Bank of Ghana uses cedis to buy gold locally and sells it for foreign exchange. “Yes, there are costs,” he admitted. “But those costs are intentional and strategic.”

To illustrate, he cited the sharp decline in small-scale gold exports after a 3% withholding tax was introduced in 2021. “FX inflows collapsed from $2 billion to $185 million,” he said.

For Gyamfi, the lesson is clear. “When the IMF or others talk about losses, they must weigh them against the benefits,” he argued, pointing to over $10.8 billion in forex inflows generated under the programme.

“So long as it props up the economy, stabilises the cedi, and builds reserves, the trade-off is justified,” he concluded.

Ghanaian journalist Stephen Adjetey Abban, popularly known as Gabs, has called for a reconsideration of the controversy surrounding content creator Ebo Noah, arguing that the basis for the public backlash and legal action against him requires closer scrutiny.

In a Facebook post, Gabs questioned the framing of Ebo Noah as a religious figure, insisting that the label does not reflect the creator’s own presentation of himself.

“Ebo Noah is a content creator, not a prophet. I have not seen any video in which he explicitly identified himself as a prophet,” he stated.

Drawing from his own experience as a blogger and content creator, Gabs said he found the situation unsettling, particularly because of the blurred lines between digital content creation and religious expression.

According to him, creators depend heavily on visibility, engagement, and audience growth, which often influences the themes and styles they adopt online.

“Content creators thrive on followers, engagement, and visibility. In pursuing growth, Noah appears to have adopted a tactic aimed at elevating his craft and gaining attention,” Gabs explained.

He suggested that while the strategy may have been designed to boost reach, it carried risks that were possibly underestimated.

“That choice, however, has come at a cost. It is unlikely he anticipated that embracing this particular niche would land him in trouble, having focused only on the aspect that promised overnight visibility,” he added.

Gabs also warned about the sensitivity of religious-themed content in Ghana’s social space, noting that such material often attracts intense reactions.

He referenced UK-based Ghanaian lawyer and writer Chris-Vincent Agyapong’s earlier commentary, agreeing that dramatic messaging is not unique to online creators alone.

“Religious themes are sensitive. As Chris-Vincent Agyapong rightly pointed out, many prophets, if not most, use similar methods to remain relevant and sustain attention,” he said.

The journalist questioned the consistency of enforcement if Ebo Noah is charged on grounds of causing fear, panic, and misinformation.

“If Ebo Noah can be arrested on grounds of fear, panic, and misinformation, as stated in the charge sheet, then self-styled doom prophets and charlatans operating under the cloak of religion should equally face the law,” Gabs argued.