The Attorney General and Minister for Justice Designate, and MP for Bolgatanga East, Dominic Ayine, has backed the existence of ORAL. He mentioned that ORAL, while a non-legal body, is fully legal and constitutional.
Dr. Ayine made this statement when he appeared before the Appointment Committee in Parliament yesterday.
“If you look at the preamble to the Constitution, it is very clear about the fundamental values underpinning the Constitution. The value of accountability is one of the preambular tenets of our Constitution. It is a primary value. ORAL is supposed to exact accountability from persons—either politically exposed individuals or persons holding political office—who used or misused their office to loot public resources by way of property, money, and other intangible assets. ORAL is constitutional. ORAL is legal,” he stated.
“The fact that it is a non-legal body doesn’t mean it is illegal. There is a distinction between non-legality and illegality,” he added.
According to the NDC, Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) is a comprehensive anti-corruption program that seeks to:
- Investigate Cases of Corruption: A specialized task force will be established to scrutinize suspected cases of corruption under previous administrations, particularly targeting the governance period of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
- Recover Misappropriated State Resources: ORAL prioritizes the retrieval of stolen state funds, property, and other assets, repurposing them for national development projects.
- Prosecute Offenders: The NDC’s commitment extends to prosecuting individuals or entities found guilty of embezzling public resources, including members of the outgoing NPP government as well as future offenders.
Source: A1Radioonline.com | 101.1 MHz | Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith| Bolgatanga
