He saw what I didn’t see – Sammy Gyamfi reveals Mahama’s personal trust behind Gold Board appointment

Sammy Gyamfi says his appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board did not come from expectation but from the trust placed in him by President John Mahama.

Speaking on PM Express Business Edition with George Wiafe, he described the moment he received the call as deeply personal and unexpected.

“For me, it was an exciting call made by the president. The president, to some of us as a father figure, is not just a flagbearer.

“He’s not just our President, but somebody that I’ve enjoyed the father-son relationship with for some time now, and he’s a great visionary,” he said.

Sammy Gyamfi revealed that the President’s confidence in him went beyond what even he had imagined for himself.

“So what he may see in you, you may not even have seen in yourself. Maybe many never expected that, upon winning power, I would find myself where I am.

“I’m sure many have predicted that I may, I may have landed some communication-related job based on what I was doing, for the party in opposition,” he said.

According to him, the decision to place him at the helm of the Gold Board reflects a deeper belief in his potential.

“But the president, I think, saw something in me that many had not noticed at the time, and he decided to give me this opportunity,” he added.

Sammy Gyamfi also acknowledged the role of Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson, describing him as a close ally in executing the President’s agenda.

“Supported by my able minister, who is like a brother to me as well, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, we have been able to push the agenda of the president for the gold sector,” he noted.

He stressed that gold remains central to the President’s broader economic reset strategy.

“Gold is very essential to the reset agenda of the President, because he believes that Ghana could have maximised national benefits and exerted its sovereignty over its good resources more than we have done since independence,” he said.

Gyamfi explained that the renewed focus is not just on extraction, but on control, trade and value retention.

“And so when he was given the second opportunity to govern as president, he needed a certain urgency for his agenda of transformation, for not only the exploitation, but also the market and the trading of our good resources to ensure that we reset the sector and change,” he added.

He pointed to long-standing challenges the administration aims to fix.

“The narrative of leakages, the narrative of low repatriation of FX and ensure that Ghanaians are in control, not only of the exploitation of our mineral resources, but also of the trading of same and that the process from that trade is coming back into the economy to support the economy and to propel his agenda, his transformation agenda for the country,” he said.

Despite acknowledging that many within the NDC were qualified for the role, Gyamfi described his appointment as a rare honour.

“So that was why I believe he saw me worthy, and there are many people in the NDC who are qualified for the job. So for me to have been given the opportunity was a rare privilege for which I am forever grateful to the president,” he said.

He ended with a personal commitment to live up to that trust.

“And every day when I wake up, my prayer is to work hard to justify the confidence he reposed in me and not to let him down. And I believe that is a prayer of my colleagues who have also been given the very privilege to serve in his government.”

Source:Fiilafmonline/JoyNews