ORAL report: Bright Simons explains why recovering 12.5% of $21bn ‘loots’ will be difficult

• Posted on February 11, 2025February 11, 2025
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

It will be a difficult task for the Attorney-General, Dr Dominic Ayine to recover 12.5% of the $21 billion-plus that the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) committee says was looted by members or assigns of the former government, a Vice President of IMANI Africa Bright Simons has said.

Bright Simons explains that a big part of the ORAL-estimated “loot” relates to fiscally messed-up policies and not funds lodged somewhere that can be “recovered” through prosecutions and plea bargain deals.

The ORAL Committee says it has identified  $21.19 billion in potential recoveries from looted state assets and undervalued land sales.

During the presentation of the committee’s report to the President at the seat of Government in Accra on Monday, February 10, ORAL Chairman Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said that if the country is able to recover this amount, there will be no need to go to the International Moneyray Fund for support.

“If we are successful in recoveries, we can retrieve as much as 20.49 billion United States dollars,” he stated. These cases include major corruption scandals involving the National Cathedral project, Power Distribution Services (PDS), and the Saltpond decommissioning project, among others,” Mr Ablakwa said.

President John Mahama also indicated after receiving the report that ” Ghaa I no longer a safe haven for corruption.”

He accordingly forwarded the report to the Attorney-General for further actions.

But Bright Simons in his analysis said “Think about the $4.5bn said to have been ‘illegally printed’ by the Governor of the central bank, for instance. That money has been spent.

“The citizens have suffered the inflation.  Other categories involve hyper-projections across multiple time ranges. Think of the $4.5 billion National Service Scheme ‘fraud’. Note that $4.5bn is about 50% of the entire national budget. That money could not have been spent within the time period in question.

“Think of the presidential jet hires, for instance. The funds were paid through classified channels to overseas jet rental companies. In Ghana, the president’s unaccountable imprest is not penetrable to punitive audits.” he said in a statement on his X page.

He further suggested that Attorney General Dr Dominic Ayine should now be placed under the strictest scrutiny. Else, even million may not come in by end of the President’s term.

“Is the A-G truly committed to ORAL? Second, the ORAL policy itself has to be costed. How much is needed to create the right infrastructure for investigations, prosecutions, and recovery? It this ends up being $26 million. Then, of course, the Attorney General better not recover $2.6 million, else that would mean the country lost more money chasing after phantom loot,” he wrote.

Below is his full …

Some folks, like @efo_edem1 , are not impressed by the stretch target I have set for the Attorney General of Ghana to recover 12.5% of the $21 billion-plus that the ORAL committee says was looted by members/assigns of the former government.

This is why 12.5% is indeed a stretch target. 1. A big part of the ORAL-estimated “loot” relate to fiscally messed-up policies and not funds lodged somewhere that can be “recovered” through prosecutions and plea bargain deals. Think about the $4.5bn said to have been “illegally printed” by the Governor of the central bank, for instance. That money has been spent. The citizens have suffered the inflation. Full stop.

2. Other categories involve hyper-projections across multiple timeranges. Think of the $4.5 billion National Service Scheme “fraud”. Note that $4.5bn is about 50% of the entire national budget. That money could not have been spent within the time period in question.

3. Think of the presidential jet hires, for instance. The funds were paid through classified channels to overseas jet rental companies. In Ghana, the president’s unaccountable imprest is not penetrable to punitive audits.

4. Think of the $1.5 billion COVID-19 funds spent on a host of social welfare programs. Much of that money was authorised by appropriation, etc. In short, just the above four categories of questionable spending amount to more than 50% of the ORAL estimate of the loot. See why a 12.5% recovery rate is a stretch target? How does the country retrieve much more than the $2.6 billion target I set, then?

5. First, the Attorney General should now be placed under the strictest scrutiny. Else, even MILLION may not come in by end of the President’s term. Is the AG truly committed to ORAL?

6. Second, the ORAL policy itself has to be costed. How much is needed to create the right infrastructure for investigations, prosecutions, and recovery? It this ends up being $26 million. Then, of course, the Attorney General better not recover $2.6 million, else that would mean the country lost more money chasing after phantom loot.

7. Is that unfair to the Attorney General? Seeing as he doesn’t control the courts? Well, there is no policy situation where every element is controlled by political leaders. Effective ORAL prosecutions and recovery are dependent on top-notch investigations, ability to inspire whistle-blowers and others with information to step up, and solid courtroom work. All those are perfectly within the control of the Attorney General.

8. On the question of how to get more money back, well, folks like@CallmeAlfredo  and myself, have persistently argued that a lot of the “loot” has been woven into permanent programs, many of which are still ongoing.

9. If the President really wants to recover billions of dollars of loot, then he needs to “shine his eye” and stop his appointees from simply ROLLING OVER these “state enchantment” scams and schemes to new cronies and schemers.

10. We spent the last 7 years or so documenting many of these schemes. Not too long ago, we were talking about the e-gates and Immigration360 gigs. Before that, the Common Platform at the Ministry of Comes. These and many other money-wasting programs are all very well known to the people now in charge. The only issue is whether they really want to stop them or simply roll them over to their preferred operators. Maybe, just maybe, citizens can also try to keep the heat on to ensure that the politicians have the incentive to unravel these schemes and stop the national bleeding.

Some folks, like @efo_edem1, are not impressed by the stretch target I have set for the Atto