The General Overseer of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, has revealed how “very powerful people with deep pockets” who used to profit from the illegal gold mining business in Ghana are no longer getting direct access to gold following the introduction of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
According to him, a few years ago, he met some of the individuals, mostly foreign nationals, at a place outside of Ghana, where they told him about how they were making so much money from gold obtained through illegal miners in Ghana.
In a radio interview monitored by Graphic Online on Joy FM on Monday morning, [August, 17, 2026], Archbishop Duncan-Williams said he travelled and was somewhere in the Middle East, and he had the privilege to host [some very powerful individuals] for dinner.
Whilst we were talking at dinner, this thing about Ghana gold came up and the fact that the gold had come into their country illegally, worth billions of dollars, and they had a record of it, and they mentioned the illegal path was over three, four times past the legal path, that they bought from Ghana gold.
He said since the Ghana Gold Board came in to regularise and make sure that we have a “responsible way of mining” and selling the gold, he has recently received so many phone calls from some of the individuals, who asked him to “intervene and help them get through the GoldBod,”
He said he told them he can’t help them.
According to Archbishop Duncan-Williams, the individuals had been involved in the purchase of gold from illegal sources and had used some Ghanaians as fronts for their activities.
“We have so many foreigners behind the illegal gold mine and they use some of our own people to front it, and I don’t believe our people understand and know the kinds of money that is being made from their sweat and labour,” he said.
He said the situation changed after GoldBod was established to regularise the gold trade and take control of the legal purchase and export of gold.
“Since the GoldBod came in to regularise and make sure that we have a responsible way of mining in the country, I’ve had so many calls from some of these people,” he said.
Archbishop Duncan-Williams said some of the individuals who contacted him described themselves as people who previously had access to gold but had lost such access following the establishment of GoldBod.
He said they asked him whether he could intervene and help them obtain gold through the Board.
According to him, some of the individuals were prepared to pay him in dollars if he helped them gain access to the gold.
“I tell them I can’t help them. I don’t understand how this thing works, so I don’t want to get involved,” he said.
Archbishop Duncan-Williams said he sometimes directed the individuals to GoldBod officials instead of intervening personally.
“I tell them, contact this person, ask this person. They will tell you the rules and how the GoldBod operates,” he said.
When asked whether he knew people involved in illegal mining, he confirmed that some of those who had contacted him were foreign nationals.
“I’ve had calls from foreign nationals… we used to buy gold from them, and now we don’t have access to it anymore. Since the GoldBod came into place, is there a way you can help…” he quoted one of the callers as saying.
When asked for names in the Joy FM interview, he declined to name the individuals who had approached him, saying he was constrained in what he could disclose publicly.
Illegal mining
Archbishop Duncan-Williams also expressed concern about the continued activities of illegal miners and their effect on the environment.
He said illegal mining was destroying water bodies and farmland and warned that the damage would have consequences for Ghana’s food and water supply.
He urged the church to pray for the leadership of GoldBod, as well as the police and military personnel involved in enforcing the law against illegal mining.
He stressed, nonetheless, that prayer should not replace enforcement of the law.
“I’m not saying that the law shouldn’t be applied. I’m saying that we should pray for those who are enforcing the law to be empowered to do their job,” he said.
GoldBod is mandated to buy, sell, assay and export gold and other precious minerals in Ghana.
The Board was established by an Act of Parliament in 2025 as part of measures to address revenue losses associated with illegal mining and gold smuggling.
