National Cathedral: Mahama’s ORAL team must question Akufo-Addo, Ofori-Atta, others – Kwame Jantuah

Private legal practitioner and leading member of the Convention People's Party, Kwame Jantuah, has shared his expectations regarding the anti-corruption drive to be implemented by President-elect John Dramani Mahama.

According to Mr. Jantuah, the incoming government's investigation into the National Cathedral scandal under the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) policy should include key actors such as President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, and members of the Cathedral board being subjected to thorough questioning.

"$58 million is in a hole. The question is, will they go to President Akufo-Addo to also get his side of the story, especially with his immunity? I think his immunity is for three years, so will they go? I don't think whether immunity or no immunity, anybody is above the law. So, I expect that in gathering information, they question President Akufo-Addo, also they question Ken Ofori-Atta, all the board members. All of them should be questioned," he stated during a panel discussion on Joy Prime.

He shot down assertions that any such attempt would be a witch-hunting expedition, noting that the amount spent by the state on the National Cathedral, in the face of the visible results, could have been channelled into more important matters of development.

"I don't want us to look at it as witch-hunting. Ghanaians and the people have voted against the government in power now for a particular reason; this might be one of them. That $58 million, do you know what it could have done? It could've done a lot of things. That $58 million, all those buildings that were demolished, that is additional money that has been wasted. So there is a huge financial debt in this cathedral thing," he said.

President-elect John Dramani Mahama has appointed a five-man team to start work on his anti-corruption initiative, Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL).

This initiative aims to recover all of the country's resources that have been looted by public officials.

The anti-corruption team will be chaired by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu.

The members of the team include former Auditor-General Daniel Yao Domelevo, retired Commissioner of Police (COP) Nathaniel Kofi Boakye, renowned private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu, and investigative journalist Raymond Archer.

A statement issued by the spokesperson of Mahama's Transition Team, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, indicated that the main function of the team is to gather information on suspected acts of corruption.

It added that the essence of the preparatory team is to ensure that ORAL starts as soon as possible.

"As a preparatory measure towards the rollout of H.E. John Dramani Mahama's promise to recover proceeds of corruption and hold persons responsible for such corruption accountable when he assumes office, a team has been set up to receive and gather information from members of the public and other sources on suspected acts of corruption.

"... Anti-corruption, with Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) as a major plank, formed a core part of H.E. John Mahama's policy platform in the 2024 campaign, and he intends to hit the ground running on these commitments," parts of the statement read.

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