The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed that the Ministry has made significant progress in reclaiming state assets and blocking fraudulent transactions under the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative.
Presenting his performance report at the Government Accountability Series in Accra, Mr. Ablakwa, who previously chaired ORAL, explained that the principles of the anti-corruption campaign strongly guide every decision taken by the Ministry.
He outlined a series of measures taken to safeguard Ghana’s diplomatic properties, both at home and abroad.
“Some of our ORAL successes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs include reclaiming all the Ministry’s land at Airport Residential Area which had been sold, aborting the illegal sale of our diplomatic property in Lagos, Nigeria, and reversing the Ministry’s initial decision to sell our diplomatic property in Lusaka, Zambia,” the Minister revealed.
The Ministry has also established a comprehensive asset register to properly account for all its properties. In addition, a controversial $3.5 million contract to renovate Ghana’s embassy in Abidjan, awarded in November 2024 without due process or budgetary allocation, was cancelled.
Mr. Ablakwa further disclosed that decisive action was taken against corruption at Ghana’s mission in Washington, D.C., leading to systemic overhauls.
“No contract has been awarded on a single-source basis since I became Foreign Minister. There is strict instruction to our Procurement Department to ensure that all procurement is competitive and complies with the Public Procurement Act,” he stressed.
The Minister added that even routine services such as cleaning, staff transport, and ticketing are now competitively tendered, reflecting the new culture of transparency within the Ministry.
He also revealed that ORAL has attracted strong international backing, with countries like Singapore partnering Ghana to build forensic capacity for anti-corruption institutions, including the OSP, EOCO, and the Police CID.
According to the Minister, these interventions demonstrate that the government is committed to ensuring accountability and safeguarding Ghana’s image on the international stage.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
