President John Dramani Mahama has once again vowed that his administration will not interfere in ongoing or future anti-corruption investigations, reaffirming his government’s commitment to holding past and present public officers to account.
He noted that Ghana’s foremost challenge in fighting graft is mainly due to political interference and lack of transparency in the processes.
Speaking during a courtesy call by the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption (AUABC) on Wednesday at Jubilee House, President Mahama assured that ongoing investigations by the Attorney General’s department and other agencies will be free from political influence, indicating the fight against corruption is crucial for the national.
“One of the major problems that was affecting our fight against corruption was political interference. The anti-corruption agencies were not allowed to do their duty without being interfered with by the political elite. And there was a clear case in point when the Special Prosecutor came and said that the president had called him and asked him to stop a certain investigation and the Minister of Finance had gone to his house to try to influence him to stop the investigation into the Agyapa [deal]” the president said seated at the head of the table.
He continued: “I have told the public and assured my Attorney General and Minister of Justice that I’m not going to interfere in their work and that if the anti-corruption agencies go after anybody, I’m not going to try and influence them to drop any investigation against anybody both for those who served in the previous regime.”
During the 2024 election campaign, then Candidate Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress pledged to empower law enforcement agencies to pursue individuals found to have misappropriated state resources.
He pledged to establish Operation Recover All the Loot (ORAL) to recoup state funds and properties unduly acquired by government officials and other politically exposed persons.
Fast forward into the Mahama administration, the ORAL team which was constituted in January have submitted its report to the president.
It has been referred to the Attorney General’s Department for further investigations and possibly prosecutions.
The president brought up ORAL during the meeting, telling his guests that the Attorney General had set up investigative teams to probe matters on a case by case basis.
He did acknowledge that there was “quite some work to do” in that regard.
Story by: Mitchell Asare Amoamah