A lawyer in private practice, Eric Dawda, has filed an application in the High Court seeking an order compelling the Ghana GOLDBOD to respond to his right to information request, which aims, among other details, to obtain a list of all small-scale miners or licensed small-scale mining companies that have sold gold to GOLDBOD since its inception.
The application, which effectively invokes the High Court’s supervisory jurisdiction, was filed on 5 January 2026. The applicant, Eric Dawda, also prays that the court direct GOLDBOD to provide him with the “name of the miner or company, license number, date(s) of transaction(s), Volume of gold sold, and the location (region/district) of the miner.”
Additional details that the applicant is demanding are “policy and operational documents governing the sale and purchase of gold by GOLDBOD.
“Particulars of Gold exported by GOLDBOS since its inception. Control mechanisms regarding finance and Administration of GOLDBOD, Inflows and outflows of GOLDBOD since its inception, and the procurement plan of GOLDBOD.”
Finally, the applicant also wants “any internal or public policy documents, guidelines, operational procedures, memoranda, licensing frameworks, or official directives that outline how GOLDBOD buys gold from miners, assays, values, and exports it.”
In his affidavit in support of the application, Eric Dawda argued that GOLDBOD, “for the purpose(s) of transparency and accountability, is mandated by the very law that brought it into existence to publish every quarter a report on its operations, revenue accrued, contracts entered into, expenditure, and responsible sourcing and traceability.”
He indicated that on 24 November 2025, he submitted a Right to Information request to GOLDBOD pursuant to a constitutional guarantee of civic responsibility expected of every citizen of the Republic of Ghana.
“That, upon service of his request on GOLDBOD, the authorities there have failed to furnish him with the details, in clear violation of his constitutional rights to information necessary in any democratic state.
“That, owing to the failure of GOLDBOD to furnish him with the information requested, he further submitted a petition to the Interested Party (RTI Commission) to compel GOLDBOD to comply with the said request by furnishing him with the particulars of information requested,” Eric Dawda’s affidavit read.
“That despite receiving his petition, the RTI Commission has failed, neglected, and/or refused to either acknowledge receipt of his request or compel GOLDBOD to furnish him with the particulars of information he is requesting from GOLDBOD,” the affidavit further read.
Mr Dawda concluded his argument by indicating that since GOLBOD has failed to furnish him with the requested information, which does not fall within the category of information exempted by law, he believes he is entitled to apply to the court for an order of mandamus to compel GOLBOD to disclose the information requested to him.
To this end, he prayed the court to exercise its discretion in his favour by granting his application. Attached to the application are two exhibits: first, a copy of the request to GOLDBOD, and second, a copy of the petition to the RTI Commission.
