The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has formally taken note of public allegations of extortion levelled against Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin, and says it will assess whether the matter falls within its statutory mandate.
In a public notice issued Monday, the anti-graft body said it was aware of the allegations made by Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi against the Effutu Member of Parliament, along with “related conduct” attributed to him.
The OSP said it had also received a joint petition from two persons, as well as two separate petitions from other individuals, all relating to the allegations. The office did not name the petitioners but said it would determine whether the case warranted further investigative action.
“Given the nature of the allegations, the OSP will assess the case and determine whether it falls within its statutory mandate and whether further investigative action is warranted,” the notice read.
Background to the dispute
The controversy stems from a public row between Mr Gyamfi and Mr Afenyo-Markin over reported losses linked to the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, run through GoldBod. Reports had claimed the International Monetary Fund’s latest report indicated GoldBod incurred losses of approximately GH¢22 billion, or about US$1.7 billion, under the programme in 2025.
Mr Afenyo-Markin, leading the Minority in Parliament, had demanded greater accountability over the reported losses. In response, Mr Gyamfi levelled the extortion allegation at the seat of the Presidency, where he addressed journalists, and later repeated the claims in an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile.
The GoldBod boss has since publicly described Mr Afenyo-Markin as an “extortionist” and challenged the Minority Leader to sue him, saying he was prepared to defend the allegation in court. According to reports, the claims centre on an assertion that Mr Afenyo-Markin, either directly or through a third party, demanded US$1 million from Mr Gyamfi.
Mr Gyamfi has maintained he did not insult the Minority Leader, saying his choice of words followed years in which he had rarely used the term “extortion” against critics, and suggested there were underlying issues between the two men that the public was not fully aware of.
The Minority Leader has rejected the allegations. The NPP Minority Caucus issued a statement describing the allegations as false and rejecting them entirely, insisting its concerns about the gold programme’s losses stemmed from findings in an official IMF report rather than partisan motives.
Petitions and calls for investigation
The dispute has drawn petitions to multiple state institutions. Two senior officials of the Unity Party, Solomon Owusu and Andrew Appiah-Danquah, jointly petitioned six investigative bodies, including the OSP, calling for a probe into the extortion allegations against Mr Afenyo-Markin.
Some commentators have argued the matter can no longer be treated as ordinary political sparring. The Herald newspaper said that while political debate over the gold programme’s financial performance was legitimate, an extortion allegation was a criminal matter that could not simply be dismissed, and called on the OSP and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to establish the facts.
Political fallout
The row has also stirred tension within the opposition NPP. Some senior members of the party’s parliamentary caucus were reported to consider the allegations serious enough to demand answers from their leader, ahead of a scheduled caucus meeting. Mr Afenyo-Markin, however, rejected media reports that he had been “summoned” over the matter, describing them as misleading and saying the meeting was part of the caucus’s routine preparations ahead of Parliament’s reopening.
The OSP notice, signed and dated August 24, 2026, gave no indication of a timeline for its assessment.
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