The chairman of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) committee Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says the nation can retrieve $20.49 billion with 36 cases including the National Cathedral Project and PDS.
It will be recalled on December 18, 2024, then President-elect John Dramani Mahama set up a team to identify and recover state assets that have been illegally and dubiously acquired by outgoing government officials and their allies.
It was also in fulfillment of a pledge the new president made on the campaign trail last year.
The members of the team are Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a former Auditor-General, Daniel Domelevo; a retired Commissioner of Police, COP (Rtd.) Nathaniel Kofi Boakye; legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu and Raymond Archer who is an investigative journalist.
Delivering data from the committee’s report to the president, Mr. Ablakwa said the team had been swarmed with thousands of reports since they started work barely two months ago.
“We can retrieve $20.49 billion with 36 cases including National Cathedral Project and PDS
“We received 1,493 calls through toll free numbers. We also received 924 emails. Fortunately all of these calls are recorded automatically and all the emails have also been preserved for verification and validation. So in total, the number of complaints received amounts to 2,417,” the chair who also doubles as Minister of Foreign Affairs said at the Jubilee House.
Mr. Ablakwa said it was proof to skeptics that ORAL was a crucial intervention by President John Mahama.
The minister, who described the president as “vindicated” in his establishment of ORAL revealed that that the team’s website and toll free lines had been developed free of charge.
He said although he and his colleagues had worked without allowances, they were proud of their efforts during the nearly two-month period.
The minister reminded the audience that ORAL had been a “major anti-corruption plank” in the 2024 election season.
“All Ghanaians have been outraged by the levels of corruption and the levels of dissipation of state assets, state resources and they expect His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to fulfill his campaign mandate of recovering what truly belongs to the Ghanaian people,” he averred.
The committee submitted report to the president following days of being topical during the early days of the Mahama administration.
