By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
A member of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) committee, Daniel Domelevo, has emphasised the need to keep the committee’s work ongoing to maintain public confidence, as time is of the essence.
According to him, “ORAL must be kept hot so that the public does not lose confidence.”
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV regarding the core mandate of the committee, since the public is more interested in jailing the looters than recovering the loot, Mr. Domelevo revealed that the committee’s core mandate was to receive complaints about looted state assets and has received over 2,417 cases, including 1,493 phone call complaints and 924 email complaints. He added that some complaints had to be let go since they had no sense of wrongdoing.
According to the former Auditor-General, whereas the focus dwells on recovering all loot stolen, just as the name suggests, it is also wise to jail the looters or demand double from them what they stole.
“…the focus should not only be on recovering stolen funds but also on holding perpetrators accountable. Looters should face jail time or be required to return double the amount stolen,” he said on Saturday, January 10.
Mr. Domelevo, however, lamented that the current legal framework would not allow this. He stressed that, if the current legal framework is not changed, there would be no deterrence to corruption.
He also expressed concern over the abuse of public office, where officials exploit state resources for personal gain, and emphasized the need to end impunity in public office.
The committee has identified $21.19 billion in potential recoveries from looted state assets and undervalued land sales. President John Dramani Mahama has assured that the ORAL committee’s report will be used to recover misappropriated state funds, and the Attorney-General has been tasked with taking further action.
