A former Deputy Attorney General, Alfred Tuah-Yeboah, has described President John Mahama’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative as toothless, stating that he would not respond to their call if he’s invited.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday, he remarked, “I see ORAL as a toothless institution without the power to investigate or engage in many activities,” when asked by Sweety Aboache if the initiative could help address corruption in the country.
“Martin Kpebu (ORAL Committee member), who just spoke, is a private legal practitioner. He doesn’t have the power to investigate, nor does he have the authority to mount prosecutions. So, if Martin Kpebu were to invite me, I wouldn’t attend, even if I were corrupt. And even if I were corrupt, and the Police or EOCO invited me, I would dare not,” Mr Tuah-Yeboah added, following Martin Kpebu’s submissions on the show.
The former Deputy Attorney General further noted, “In my view, they (ORALCommittee) cannot help in any way with the fight against corruption. We have state institutions for that purpose. If we have resources, they should be channelled to these state institutions so they can do their job.”
The ORAL Committee, led by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, submitted over two thousand corruption complaints to the president on Monday.
Read also: ORAL committee presents report containing 2,417 suspected corruption complaints to Mahama
According to Mr Ablakwa, the cases were received from the public and mostly involved suspected corruption by officials of the previous government.
After receiving the report, President Mahama handed it over to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, to review and take legal action.
The committee revealed that the state could potentially recover over $21 billion from stolen state assets, the majority of which are lands and bungalows.
