Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) was a central piece of the current government’s 2024 election campaign. ORAL promised three things – “investigation, prosecution and recovery” of corruption proceeds.
It is understandable why corruption was a key campaign issue for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2024. In Afrobarometer Round 10 (2024), six out of 10 Ghanaians (63 per cent) believed the level of corruption had “increased a lot.”
In addition, only 16 per cent rated the fight against corruption as “fairly well/very well.”
Ghanaians can, therefore, think of ORAL, not just as a campaign promise, but also as a policy tool designed to respond to their sentiments captured by the 2024 Afrobarometer survey.
Post the 2024 election, ORAL was set in motion with the formation of a committee whose work culminated in the submission of a report to the Attorney General’s office. Since then, and as per reports from the Attorney General, serval investigations are underway, with three prosecutions (SKY Train, National Signals Bureau and National Service Authority) already announced.
Attorney General’s briefing
I am yet to find the right words to capture my response to the Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Justice’s briefing on June 13, 2025, as he updated Ghanaians on investigations regarding alleged malfeasance at the National Service Authority (NSA).
Suffice it to say that sadness was one of my responses. That is because you can imagine the public service provision the state could have financed with the cost (GH¢548million) of the alleged ghost names scandal. I shudder to think of the total financial loss to the state when the work of ORAL is completed.
Also, bear in mind that the period where these alleged offences were committed was one during which the country faced difficult economic times, leading to painful policy choices such as the domestic debt exchange program and a return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a “bailout.”
But more than just the cost of the alleged acts of impropriety at the NSA, the AG’s briefing reveals deep weaknesses in our administrative structures designed to prevent improper conduct on the part of public officials. Perhaps, that weakness is not because of a poorly designed administrative structure with ineffective rules, processes and procedures but rather an issue of a perverse understanding of public service by people in office and private sector actors who participate in such perversion.
If that is not the case, how do we explain a system in which increased adoption of technology, designed to prevent and eliminate ghost names on a state agency’s payroll, become so susceptible to such alleged crimes totalling GH¢548million?
And how do we explain the failure to detect any red flags as all the alleged transactions made their way through various administrative processes? It simply, in my considered opinion, points to a human problem and not necessarily an administrative design flaw.
Future of anti-corruption efforts
In addition to investigations and prosecutions, ORAL promises recovery.
Yes, every person accused of a crime is entitled to the presumption of innocence. More importantly, their due process rights must be protected and respected.
If proven that indeed these accused persons committed the offences as alleged, then the third arm of ORAL – recovery – must not only be activated but should also succeed.
Ghanaians will support efforts that ensure proceeds from alleged corrupt acts do not remain at the disposal of accused persons.
But beyond ORAL, what is the fate of the country’s anti-corruption efforts?
I say this because the AG’s briefing is instructive in several ways.
There is one I would like to focus on. Let me use an analogy borrowed from the public administration literature in America to illustrate the point – Police Patrols vs. Fire Alarms.
Police patrols (in this case our anti-corruption laws and institutions) are designed to prevent corruption from happening.
Fire alarms (findings from the Auditor General’s report, whistle-blowing, investigative reports by journalists, etc.) draw attention to suspected acts of impropriety after they have occurred.
Ideally, an effective anti-corruption architecture will have efficient police patrols that prevent corrupt acts from occurring because sometimes by the time the fire alarm goes off and there is a response, some or all the loss may not be recoverable.
Upon reflection, and not just from the AG’s briefing, but even from examining years of the Auditor General’s report, it appears our police patrols on the administrative highway, designed to prevent improper conduct on the part of public officials, are not efficient.
And it is because of their inability to push back against perverse public conduct by human elements.
It, therefore, suggests that the viable option left is the fire alarm approach, with all its limitations.
And even with that, when the fire alarm goes off, it again feels like we must wait for a turnover election to get accountability.
The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project.
