Chairman of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) Committee, and member of parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has reiterated that the team’s phase one mandate is solely focused on gathering evidence, information, and data related to state assets.
Responding to a directive from the Minority urging former government appointees to boycott perceived invitations from the ORAL team, Ablakwa clarified, “Nobody is inviting anybody.
We have not been inviting people. We are not investigating people; we are not summoning people. What we are doing is just phase one: gathering the evidence.”
According to him, the team is acting as a receptacle for information, collecting reports via toll-free numbers, websites, emails, and voluntary submissions.
These reports are being thoroughly validated through field assessments to ensure accuracy and credibility before being compiled into a comprehensive and impartial report for President John Dramani Mahama.
He added, “When we present our report, then ORAL will move to phase two, which will involve the Attorney General, EOCO, the OSP, CID, and other institutions to pursue prosecutions, recoveries, surcharges, and disallowances.”
The ORAL team has already undertaken significant actions in the pursuit of its mandate. They have conducted site inspections at several locations, including state-owned lands at Cantonments, Labone, and La Wireless in Accra.
During these visits, the team uncovered questionable sales of government lands to private entities, many of which were linked to officials from the previous administration.
These sales had led to the displacement of public servants, including employees of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), who had been served eviction notices after their bungalows were sold to private developers.
At the Agricultural Mechanization Centre in Cantonments, ORAL discovered abandoned facilities where roofs had been removed, leaving sensitive documents and machinery exposed to the elements.
The facility was reportedly set to be redeveloped by private interests connected to former government appointees.
A recent headline-grabbing incident involved the Director-General of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), Nana Attobrah Quaicoe. Reports suggested that Quaicoe had contacted the ORAL team to return a parcel of land he allegedly acquired illegally.
However, he has vehemently denied these allegations, describing them as baseless and politically motivated.
Through his legal counsel, he stated, “I have never engaged with any member of the ORAL Committee, nor do I possess any illegally acquired government property.”
Ablakwa has emphasized the importance of tackling systemic corruption and state capture, which he described as having reached unprecedented levels.
“This is about halting the hemorrhage, stopping the looting, and putting an end to kleptocracy,” he stated.
‘We’re not inviting or investigating anyone; our phase one mandate is solely to gather evidence, information, and data,’ says Hon. @SamuelOkudzeto , ORAL Chairman, responding to the Minority’s directive for former government appointees to boycott ORAL team ‘invitations’.… pic.twitter.com/W2MTD5kj13
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) January 15, 2025
