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The Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative is not going to be a witch-hunting campaign, President-elect John Dramani Mahama has assured.
He said the mandate of the Committee is to gather information on alleged acts of corruption by members of the current administration and ultimately recover what rightfully belongs to the people.
President-elect John Mahama with Myriam Montrat, Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana
The President-elect on Tuesday named a five-member committee to gather information from members of the public and other sources on suspected acts of corruption.
That move has since been met with mixed reaction with some questioning the capacity of the team to undertake such a task when there are state sponsored institutions to handle matters of corruption.
But during a courtesy call on him yesterday by the Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Myriam Montrat, the President-Elect explained the need for the Committee.
“We are receiving a lot of information on things that are going wrong and corruption scandals. Some [of the whistleblowers] send me text on my phone and some call me and others go through other people.
“We want a focal point where all that evidence is directed so that they can be assembled. ORAL is not going to investigate people. It will gather the evidence and pass same on to the institutions [mandated to undertake prosecution].
“We just want that if people have information that is useful in the fight against corruption, they should pass it on to that committee,” Mr Mahama said.
The work of the Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa chaired committee, he clarified comes at no cost to the state.
“I don’t want people to see it as a witch-hunting committee. I can assure that it is not meant to witch-hunt people,” he emphasised.
Corruption, the President-elect said has a toll on the business environment and that he would work assiduously to deal with it to bring back the confidence in the Ghanaian economy.
Congratulating the President-elect on his electoral victory, the Canadian High Commissioner said her country was available to provide the needed assistance to Ghana in the areas where the North American country abounds in experience.
She decried Ghana’s current business environment revealing that many Canadian companies were folding out because of the toxic business environment.
“I was talking to some of the companies but because they fear so much about their security, and their investments being jeopardised, some of them are exiting and going into countries where they feel safer. There is a lot of opportunities but the environment is not safe,” she said.
But the President-elect said “I can assure you, Madam High Commissioner, that the environment is going to change and Ghana would open for business again”
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
