The Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Dr Dominic Ayine, has dismissed claims that the government’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative is failing, asserting that ongoing corruption trials are putting pressure on the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Speaking to journalists after a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on Wednesday, 20 May, Dr Ayine argued that the court cases have unsettled the NPP due to the risk of their officials being jailed.
He denied that the government is losing focus on the programme.
“When statements like that are being made that we are doing this because ORAL is failing, ORAL is not failing,” he stated.
Dr Ayine highlighted his office’s unprecedented progress in tackling corruption since his appointment.
“I am the first Attorney General in the history of the Fourth Republic to have brought five corruption cases in one year. Go back and check the records,” he said.
He maintained that the active prosecutions reflect the government’s commitment to its anti-corruption agenda, attributing opposition criticism to fear of the rigorous legal process.
“What is happening in court now is rather putting pressure on them because they know that I have been so diligent in my investigations. I have been so diligent in the prosecutions that they are afraid that their people will go to jail for the acts of corruption that they engaged in,” he added.
Defending the initiative against opposition detractors, Dr Ayine concluded: “So the accusation that we are shifting focus away from ORAL is not something that I will pay heed to because ORAL is on track and ORAL is going to succeed.”
