Revoke appointment and the creation of ORAL — Ansah-Asare tells Mahama

Kwaku Ansah-Asare, a former director of the Ghana School of Law, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to revoke the establishment of the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) committee, arguing that its creation is unnecessary and potentially problematic.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Tuesday, January 14, Mr. Ansah-Asare criticised the new administration's decision to establish ORAL, suggesting it could be seen as a political tool rather than a meaningful effort to combat corruption.

“They may mean well, but from my perspective, ORAL is just about settling political goals. We don’t need that sort of thing,” he stated.

Mr Ansah-Asare advised the president to “revoke the appointment and the creation of ORAL to ensure it doesn’t overstep its boundaries.”

He pointed out that Ghana already has several well-established anti-corruption and law enforcement institutions, such as the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), which are capable of handling asset recovery and corruption cases.

The legal expert warned that the committee could overreach its mandate, potentially causing embarrassment to the president and the government.

“Overall, ORAL will become one of the many entities presidents have established only to realise that members of the committee will take the law into their own hands and do things that, from a commonsense perspective, should not be done,” he said.

Mr. Ansah-Asare urged President Mahama to act swiftly to dissolve the committee before it creates any unintended consequences.

“If the president fails to abolish ORAL, it will lead to the embarrassment of the person who set it up. The earlier he scraps it, the better,” he cautioned.