His Excellency, the new president, John Dramani Mahama, temporarily established a squad called "ORAL," or Operation Recover All Loot, to reclaim Ghana's embezzled money and looted properties made possible by the previous government. Although ORAL is not an investigation team, to perform the tasks of the powerful FBI in apprehending, prosecuting, and imprisoning corrupt politicians, but only to gather information, the team has become the NPP politicians' worst nightmare.
With individuals from a variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise, "Operation Recover All Loot" (ORAL) is a new task force that stands as an effective option to retrieve all of Ghana's stolen money and properties. They are Mr. Daniel Domelovo, a retired police chief and former auditor-general; Nathaniel Kofi Boakye; Mr. Martin Kpebu, a private attorney; Mr. Raymond Archer, an investigative journalist; and Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who serves as chairman.
Just to refresh your memory, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the leading law enforcement and homeland security organization. It is a Department of Justice division and is answerable to the U.S. Attorney General. Since the FBI looks into all federal crimes, including financial crimes, money laundering, sex trafficking, etc., the ORAL team is far from its objectives. Therefore, why are NPP politicians so alarmed that they are condemning it as unlawful and unconstitutional and want it to be dissolved?
In Ghana’s Constitution, article 2571 makes it very clear that all state lands belong to Ghanaians and are under the president's care. However, the previous government's lawlessness and implementation of free corruption allowed many NPP officials to continually break the Constitution, seize portions of these lands, and wall them. So, the ORAL team provided a source to solicit for information to retrieve those stolen funds and properties, and the response from Ghanaians has been overwhelming.
Mr. Abu Jinapor, the previous Minister of Lands, has failed, just like Ernest Addison, the governor of the Bank of Ghana. Parliament asked him to produce a report on the lands issue, but Abu Jinapor neglected to do so since he was aware that some NPP politicians had unlawfully obtained public lands. Regretfully, the NPP has been forced to go to the opposition by the power of Ghanaians, which has allowed the new administration to investigate the past government's illicit land acquisition offenses.
Corruption has destroyed Ghana without a remedy, and politicians can steal money, lands, and other state properties, but they find it satisfying and are not willing to face justice. Instead of welcoming the ORAL team to do a good job to benefit the country, those who have embezzled state funds and stolen government properties see the team as a threat and are doing everything in their power to ensure that the ORAL team's goals are not met. Will they succeed? That is the question.
Ghanaians have been so interested in the ORAL team's work that they have received over 700 complaints involving money misappropriation and political looting, despite the NPP politicians' condemnation of the team. It is very regrettable to say that the NPP lacks intelligence and therefore relies on their ignorance since the ORAL team doesn’t make arrests, prosecute, or imprison anyone; instead, all information acquired will be given to His Excellency, John Mahama.
The success of the ORAL team is characterized by the prompt identification of illegal walled state properties, the disappearance of $150 worth of seized gold bars from illegal mining sites, the ghost names of people receiving salaries but not actually existing, large-scale contracts that were never carried out, and embezzled funds from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and other organizations. The ORAL team is also addressing cases of misappropriation by individuals, like Cecilia Dapaah.
The ORAL team has received information from all over Ghana, including Kumasi, Ho, and Sogakope, and will be moving out of Accra also to validate the rumors of Afenyo-Markin taking a parcel of land belonging to the Ghana police in Winneba. The team also saved the demolition of bungalows, one of which was recently renovated with funds from the US government. Unlawful state captures have taken over the land and are ready to demolish those bungalows to develop the lands to satisfy their criminal actions and greed.
I will advise any NPP politician who has embezzled funds or has stolen properties in their possession to hand them over to the ORAL team. As a writer who has unsuccessfully pushed the government to enact legislation that would imprison dishonest politicians, I am even more thrilled to support the ORAL team. "I am certain that Mahama will approve and ratify my 'Protection of State Assets Bill,'" MP Sam Ablakwa declares.