The Attorney General has granted a fiat to the Ghana Gold Board to prosecute cases related to gold smuggling and illegal trading.

The grant of the fiat means that the state-run agency can now assign its own lawyers to lead in the prosecution of cases.

The Deputy CEO of GoldBod, Richard Nunekpeku says the development is part of the government's efforts to fastrack the prosecution of persons apprehended for engaging in illegal gold activities.

Nunekpeku was reacting to the need for the establishment of specialized court to adjudicate illicit gold businesses during a press conference in Accra.

The presser announced the apprehension of some 25 individuals, including other foreign nationals for engaging in gold illegal trading and smuggling in parts of Accra.

"On the issue of setting up specialized court; currently we still engaging the AG and the judiciary but as first step, the AG has granted us a fiat as GoldBod to be able to prosecute some of these cases on our own."

"So, what that means is that it gives us the opportunity to dedicate resources to the prosecution of these cases and we have resourced our legal department to able to undertake those prosecutions," he explained

The Deputy CEO further disclosed that the prosecutors will be part of investigations to achieve successful trials.

"So, we have prosecutors in our legal department who have been named as part of the prosecutors on the fiat...and they are the ones fast tracking the prosecution of these cases and as far as some of these arrest are concerned, they will be integral part of the process of going through the investigations and making sure that all the things for successful trial is done right from the moment of the arrest to the investigation, interrogation and subsequent filing and prosecution of the cases in court."

The Deputy CEO said the next stage after the acquisition of the fiat will be the setting up of the dedicated courts for gold trading offences.

"The next stage will be to work on the dedicated courts to help us in several ways, making sure that we have courts that we can go to anytime we're ready, the Judges also understands the requirements of our law and are very abreast with what needs to be proven," he stated

The GoldBod has been empowered to appoint inspectors with special authority to combat gold smuggling, and this move is expected to enhance enforcement efforts.