Bright Simons, Vice President of IMANI Africa, has expressed skepticism over the government’s ability to recover a significant portion of the $21.19 billion allegedly lost through corruption and mismanagement under previous administrations.
Simons’ concerns follow the release of a report by the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) Committee, which detailed widespread financial losses attributed to corrupt deals and undervalued state assets. The committee, chaired by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, presented its findings to President John Mahama at the Jubilee House on Monday, February 10.
While the ORAL Committee remains optimistic about reclaiming the lost funds, Simons argues that much of the so-called “loot” is not stored in accounts that can be easily accessed through legal proceedings. Instead, he attributes a large portion of the alleged losses to questionable fiscal policies and economic mismanagement rather than outright embezzlement.
As an example, he pointed to the $4.5 billion allegedly “illegally printed” by the former governor of the Bank of Ghana, emphasizing that the money had already been spent, primarily fueling inflation. He also cast doubt on the feasibility of retrieving the $4.5 billion fraudulently obtained through the National Service Scheme, noting that such a figure would account for nearly half of Ghana’s entire national budget, making it implausible that such a sum could have been misappropriated within the given timeframe.
Despite Simons’ concerns, President Mahama reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to combating corruption. Following the committee’s report, he forwarded the findings to Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine for further review and possible legal action.
Ablakwa stressed that if even $20.49 billion of the missing funds could be recovered, Ghana would not need to seek financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He highlighted key cases such as the National Cathedral scandal, the Power Distribution Services (PDS) contract, and the Saltpond decommissioning project as prime examples of financial mismanagement.
Simons, however, remains unconvinced that the government has the necessary resources and infrastructure to successfully reclaim a significant portion of the lost funds. He warned that without sufficient funding for investigations and legal proceedings, the ORAL initiative might cost more than it ultimately recovers.
“If it takes $26 million to set up the necessary infrastructure for prosecution and recovery, but the government only manages to retrieve $2.6 million, then we would have lost money chasing after phantom loot,” Simons cautioned.
He also called for greater scrutiny of the Attorney General’s office to ensure genuine commitment to the recovery process, arguing that without clear strategies and accountability, achieving even a fraction of the projected recoveries may prove elusive.
As the government pushes forward with its anti-corruption agenda, the success of the ORAL initiative remains uncertain, with critics questioning whether it will deliver tangible results or become another costly but ineffective effort in the fight against financial mismanagement.
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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 former government members/assigns.
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 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.
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.
