NPP Vindicated on ORAL: Manhyia South MP Slams Committee as ‘Waste of Time’ Amid ‘Garbage’ Report Revelations
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has been “vindicated” in its longstanding criticism of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative, according to Manhyia South MP Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, who lambasted the anti-corruption committee as a “complete waste of time and resources” that failed to deliver credible findings despite its star-studded lineup.
In a fiery interview on October 22, Awuah questioned the utility of the panel, accusing it of passively receiving “garbage” documents without rigorous scrutiny before handing an “unrefined” report to the Attorney General.
“Well, let me put it in the form of a question—what was the utility of the ORAL?” Awuah posed, highlighting the committee’s composition of “highly experienced” figures like former Auditor-General Daniel Domelevo, lawyer Martin Kpebu, retired Commissioner Kofi Boakye, and EOCO boss Kwabena Adu Gyamfi.
“You had all these people… and all they did was to receive documents and couldn’t even probe the usefulness or otherwise of the documents,” he charged, suggesting the output was subpar and burdensome.
“What was given to the Attorney General was an unrefined document… Domelevo failed to bring his experience to bear, Kpebu failed… He knows what is admissible, what is inadmissible… and so if he couldn’t, then the utility of the ORAL is really problematic.”
Awuah, a vocal NPP critic of the NDC-led probe, argued that the report’s lack of due diligence has fueled undue pressure on Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine, who is “advancing” investigations based on flawed intel. “It does appear that they are part of the reason why there’s a lot of pressure on the Attorney General… It was of no use to the Attorney General,” he insisted, pointing to recent admissions from ORAL members as confirmation of the NPP’s early warnings. The MP’s remarks follow Domelevo’s October 8 call for new laws to expedite prosecutions, Kpebu’s support for faster action, and Boakye’s critiques of delays, which Awuah framed as “confessions” validating the “waste.”
Launched in December 2024 as a Mahama campaign pledge, ORAL—chaired by MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa with members including Domelevo, Kpebu, Boakye, and journalist Raymond Archer—submitted its report in February 2025 after probing 2,417 cases, uncovering $21.19 billion in potential recoveries from alleged graft under the prior Akufo-Addo administration.
President Mahama tasked the AG with pursuing 33 cases in June, but progress has stalled amid debates over evidentiary rigor, with the report criticized for including unverified claims.
