Not everybody has confidence to walk straight to the Police – Kpebu on need for ORAL

A Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has defended the activities of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) committee set up by President John Mahama ahead of the 2024 elections, stating that there is a legal basis for such a mechanism for reporting corruption and crime.

Speaking on The Key Points on January 18, Kpebu emphasized that the committee’s role is not to invite suspects for questioning but to receive and document cases of corruption, state capture, and other wrongdoing.

This, he explained, would ensure that corruption cases brought to President Mahama’s attention will already be under preliminary scrutiny.

“JM said people were inundating him with cases of suspected corruption, so in his wisdom, he thought it best to set up a committee ahead of time to receive these reports. The President alone cannot handle all these complaints, so a dedicated team is necessary,” Kpebu noted.

Kpebu referenced several laws that support such an initiative, including the Whistleblowers Act.
Section 3 of the Act outlines how citizens can report crimes through various channels, including:
• A head of a family
• A religious leader (pastor, imam, etc.)
• A member of a district assembly
• A Member of Parliament (MP)
• A chief
Kpebu argued that if Ghana’s laws allow multiple reporting avenues, then a presidentially appointed committee is well within legal bounds.

“Not everybody has the confidence to walk straight to the police, so other channels exist to receive complaints. If the president sets up a committee to collect reports, it’s completely lawful,” he asserted.

Kpebu further explained that anti-corruption NGOs, such as the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), have historically received and investigated corruption complaints, leading to major media exposés.

“Some of the biggest corruption exposés you see in Ghana come from people reporting wrongdoing to NGOs. These groups conduct investigations and work with journalists before cases are escalated to the police,” he said.

According to Kpebu, Mahama’s committee is simply formalizing an existing system, ensuring that citizens’ complaints are documented and addressed efficiently.

Kpebu urged the public to see this initiative as a proactive step toward fighting corruption, rather than a political manoeuvre.

He stressed that Ghanaians have a democratic duty to scrutinize their leaders, and such a committee is in line with global best practices.
“An unexamined life is not worth living. In a democracy, citizens must ask questions and demand accountability,” he concluded.

By Christabel Success Treve

The post Not everybody has confidence to walk straight to the Police – Kpebu on need for ORAL first appeared on 3News.

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