Adongo defends GoldBod law’s passage despite opposition concerns, leaves door open to review

Parliament’s Finance Committee Chairman, Isaac Adongo, has defended the passage of the law establishing GoldBod despite opposition concerns about some provisions. He says the law can be reviewed if lapses emerge.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition, he said opposition members did not reject the bill in principle. Their reservations concerned specific provisions.

“The passage of the bill that led to the establishment of the gold board, for instance, from a political perspective, our colleagues do not disagree in principle, but their side of the divide was not comfortable with certain provisions,” he stated.

He argued that Parliament needed to pass the law to allow the institution to begin its work.

“Nevertheless, we needed to get that act out of the way, and you have seen the monumental impact of the gold board, so we needed to first get a handle on it.”

Mr Adongo left the possibility of changes open. He acknowledged that implementation could expose weaknesses requiring parliamentary attention.

“Of course, over time, there will be some lapses that can be identified, and a review is possible at any point in time.”

He said he expected opposition members to support a review if the executive returned to Parliament seeking changes to clauses it believed could have been handled differently.

He defended his position during a discussion about whether he could challenge government proposals, including those brought by Finance Minister Dr Ato Forson.

Mr Adongo said the committee’s work involved scrutiny across party lines. He argued that its chairman could not impose decisions on members.

“The reason is that almost every bill that has come to us has been scrutinised on a bipartisan basis.”

He cited former Finance Minister and Ranking Member Dr Amin Adam, Deputy Ranking Member Dr Stephen Amoah, and Dr Gideon Boako as part of that scrutiny.

Mr Adongo maintained that committee members had largely agreed on proposals brought before them. He said differences allowed both sides to express their views.

For GoldBod, he said the passage was necessary despite the reservations, noting that any subsequent review would give Parliament another opportunity to examine provisions found wanting.