General News of Thursday, 9 August 2018

Source: ghanaguardian.com

Menzgold is operating legally in Ghana - PMMC claims debunked

The gold trading company says it has the necessary paperwork that enables them to legally operate The gold trading company says it has the necessary paperwork that enables them to legally operate

Menzgold Company Limited has been operating legally in Ghana with the required license to trade in gold, the company's lawyer Kwame Akuffo has revealed.

Counsel Akuffo revealed that the Menzgold has acquired all the necessary paperwork to enable it carry out its operations, insisting its license has never been revoked.

The gold trading company has been forced to come out in defence of its operations after the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC) Managing Director Kwadwo Opare Hammond claimed on Wendesday that the body has revoked the license of Menzgold.

But Menzgold argued that following the decision of BoG to withdraw the license of PMMC last year they have acquired their operation license through the Minerals Commission.

Menzgold revealed that they have consistently relied on the PMMC for their license until the latter's mandate was withdrawn following complaints from the Gold Traders Associations over the conduct of some of the leadership of the PMMC.

The lawyer for Menzgold says they have always been on the right side of the law as they have met all the conditions to operation legally in the country contrary to the claims of the Managing Director of the PMMC.

“The license was granted after monies and necessary registrations had been paid for. The license was from September 4, 2014, to September 4, 2015," Akuffo said.

"Subsequent to the expiry of the license, my client applied for a renewal which was granted on November 3, 2015, to expire on November 2, 2016.

“There has never been an occasion where the license issued to Menzgold Ghana Limited was revoked by any governmental entity.

"The parties agreed that the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources shall nominate the PMMC as the government’s independent at-sale-laboratory. So, immediately this occurred in 2015, there was no need to renew the licence with the PMMC.

“Subsequently, we moved on to the Minerals Commission to obtain an export licence. There has never been a singular instance, or a plural instance or multiple instances where the PMMC revoked the licence of Menzgold or MenzBank Ghana Limited. It’s never occurred.

“So when Mr Opare Hammond does so, he’s engaged in economic defamation, he’s engaged in undermining the integrity and reputation of Menzgold."

The activities of Menzgold have come under scrutiny following the collapse of five banks in Ghana and the Bank of Ghana issuing a statement urging the public not to invest with the gold trading company.

With handsome interests over the gold investments by its customers which has drawn many customers to Menzgold, the gold trading firm is standing on solid grounds with a good history of not defaulting to its customers.