Fad Osman, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications team, has raised concerns about the newly formed Organised Reporting and Accountability Leadership (ORAL) Team, set up by President-elect John Dramani Mahama, suggesting that its work will be more about gossip than meaningful investigation.
The ORAL Team, which is tasked with gathering information on corruption and ensuring accountability once Mahama takes office, has garnered support from many Ghanaians eager to see corruption tackled.
However, Osman expressed skepticism about the team’s effectiveness, claiming it would start by engaging in gossip.
In an interview on GHOne TV, Osman commented on the committee, asserting that they will begin with gossip, not proper investigations.
He further criticised the team’s approach, calling it “theatrics,” and suggesting that the members’ actions would lack substance.
Osman also noted the team’s decision to operate on a pro bono basis, without salaries or allowances. While he did not seek to justify any past corruption, he questioned the overall impact of the team’s work.
He concluded by stating that there would be no problem with reopening investigations into past scandals but cautioned that the team’s efforts must focus on substantive results rather than gossip and dramatics.
“This committee is going to engage in gossip, if you are going to gather information, certainly it has to start with gossip. The second one is going to be theatrics, completely theatrics. Because if you look at the members of the committee and what they will be doing, yesterday I read that they’ve had a first meeting and they’ve set up laid down rules that will guide the operations of this committee and that they will not be paid, no allowances , I think it’s good but what is important here is that nobody is trying to justify what happened in terms of corruption in the previous administration or the outgoing government, I’m not here to justify that.”
