Kofi Bentil, a private legal practitioner, has said that the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) was overhyped and it is under-delivering.
It will be recalled that on February 10, 2025, the ORAL team submitted their final report to President John Mahama, who has since directed the Attorney General for further actions.
The chairman of Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa revealed that with just 36 cases, Ghana can potentially recover $ 20.49 billion in stolen state resources.
According to Kofi Bentil, despite his criticism of ORAL performance, he maintains his support for the overall goal of fighting corruption.
Speaking on The Key Points on TV3, Saturday, September 27, Kofi Bentil stated, “ORAL was overhyped and it is under-delivering. But I support the call to fight corruption”.
Also, Jerry Ahmed Shaib, a member of Parliament for Weija-Gbawe, has said the NDC’s “Operation Recover All Loot” (ORAL) is now Operation Release All Looters and arrest people against the NDC.
Speaking during a demonstration organised by the NPP youth wing on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, the Weija MP stated, “The real ORAL, now for me, means that Operation Release All Looters and then arrest people who are against our party. You cannot talk- there’s so much that they said during their time as a form of hate speech,” he said.
He added that “Now, when you post something, the president calls himself the IP man and he’s able to trace whoever and wherever you are and he gets people to be picked up. It’s just so unbearable.”
“You have to be focused as a president and let the institutions work for tomorrow’s sake because nobody is going to be president forever,” he added.
“Nobody is saying that don’t go after people you think have committed crimes, but use the proper procedure, and it is high time we [understood] that we have no Ghana anywhere apart from this Ghana.
“So, if you have ever studied Karl Marx, there’s what we call economic determinism and historical materialism. People will, at a stage, not be able to stand whatever you are doing, and they will revolt.
And if you are not careful, you will be surprised at the kind of people who will join that kind of revolt. Let us stop weaponising state institutions, including even the judiciary. I mean, what’s this?” he emphasised.
However, President John Dramani Mahama has assured that no member of his party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), will interfere in the prosecution of suspects or investigation of ORAL cases.
John Mahama’s assurance comes on the back of a claim by the party’s General Secretary, Fiifi Kwetey, that some compatriots are “cutting deals” with people under prosecution.
According to John Mahama, all Operation Recover All Loots cases will be investigated thoroughly.
Speaking at his media encounter in Accra on Wednesday, September 10, John Mahama explained, “ If anybody goes lobbying people to interfere, they’re throwing away their resources. All ORAL cases will be investigated and come to their logical end.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Srem Sai, has reassured Ghanaians that the John Mahama-led government is working to pursue cases under the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) initiative.
According to Dr Srem Sai, the concerns about the pace of ORAL cases are legitimate, but he stressed that due process must be followed.
Speaking in an interview on TV3, Dr Srem Sai stated, “The public will say they don’t see anything, but the point I am trying to make is that the expectation is legitimate because of what we have witnessed.
The work we are doing is very thorough and vibrant. I hardly sleep, but the public has to be made aware that we just can’t bundle people based on complaints and throw them into jail”.
Dr Srem Sai also added that the legal vacation had contributed to delays.
“To the extent that for Adu Boahene, we have covered one-third of the case, if not for the legal vacation, which stops the court for two months, we would probably have concluded our case, and then the defence would be open.
We will come back in October and continue from where we left off. That is very fast if you compare it with all the other criminal trials that we are even doing here,” he noted.
See the post below:
"Overhyped and under-delivering," says IMANI Africa's Kofi Bentil about ORAL's effort. Despite his criticism of its performance, Lawyer Kofi Bentil maintains his support for the overall goal of fighting corruption.#3NewsGH #TV3GH pic.twitter.com/ledTRD46te
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) September 27, 2025