ORAL Committee will not receive salaries, allowance, per-diem or fuel – Chairman Ablakwa announces after first meeting

The chairman of the five-member preparatory committee for the implementation of President-elect John Dramani Mahama's anti-corruption policy, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has announced that his team will not be receiving compensation for their work.

According to the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, the work of the five-member team will be of no cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer, a resolve that was reached at the first meeting of the committee.

"The ORAL Team held its first meeting at 2 p.m. today and has resolved to work gratis. We shall not be receiving salaries, allowances, per-diems, or fuel coupons. None of our activities will come at a cost to the taxpayer. We continue to count on your support. Let's do this for God and Country," he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday evening.

Earlier, the MP had tweeted a message of acceptance following his appointment by the President-elect.

Mr. Ablakwa, on behalf of the team, thanked President-elect Mahama for trusting them to help with ORAL, which is one of his major campaign promises.

"I humbly accept to chair this ORAL team with a profound sense of duty, integrity, and patriotism. We are grateful to President-elect H.E. John Mahama for the confidence reposed in us. For God and Country," he wrote.

About the team

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.

GA

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