President-elect, John Dramani Mahama has clarified the purpose of the recently announced Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) team, emphasizing that the committee will not be investigating individuals but will serve as a focal point for gathering corruption-related evidence.
Addressing public concerns about the team’s mandate, Mr. Mahama explained that ORAL is solely tasked with receiving and organizing information on suspected acts of corruption.
He adde that it will then be passed on to state institutions with the legal authority to act, such as the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).
“With regards to ORAL, I announced the preparatory committee, and people are confused,” Mr. Mahama stated. “We are receiving a lot of information on things going wrong, corruption scandals, and so on"
"Some send me texts, some call, others pass through different channels. We want a focal point where all the evidence can be directed so that it can be assembled once we come into office.”
He further assured the public that ORAL is not a duplicative entity but a streamlined mechanism to channel credible information to the appropriate state bodies.
“ORAL is not going to be investigating people. It is going to gather evidence and pass it on to the institutions that are supposed to do that kind of work. If people have information useful in the fight against corruption, they should pass it on to the team. The team is not expecting any payment, and there is no budget associated with it,” he emphasized.
Despite the clarification, the initiative has drawn criticism from governance experts. Kwasi Yirenkyi, for instance, argued that ORAL's formation is redundant, as state institutions already have the mandate and resources to address corruption.
“This team that has been formed is not needed; it is the same business as usual,” Mr. Yirenkyi said during an interaction with journalists in Accra.
"State bodies like the Attorney-General’s Department, EOCO, CID, and NIB are already equipped to handle evidence gathering and prosecution. The question is, once ORAL gathers evidence, who will act on it?”
The President-elect’s transition team has defended the initiative, describing it as a preparatory measure towards fulfilling the administration's commitment to recovering stolen state resources and holding perpetrators accountable.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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