Gloria Ofori-Boadu, managing partner at GOB Law Consult, has raised serious concerns about President John Dramani Mahama‘s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) team, comparing it to the notorious kangaroo courts of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).
Appearing on Asaase Radio’s The Forum on Saturday (18 January), Ofori-Boadu questioned the necessity of the ORAL team, pointing out that Ghana already has a range of investigative bodies capable of fulfilling the same purpose.
“Don’t we have a system of investigating wrongdoings?” she asked, adding that the creation of the ORAL team seemed redundant.
“This reminds me of those kangaroo courts we had in the AFRC days when people were called and were asked, ‘We heard this, that, that, that.’ You don’t even see the people; they are behind the screen and then they tell you something and then guilty or not guilty. In fact, not guilty, you are not even given the chance; you are immediately condemned to whatever punishment, including the firing squad.”
Ofori-Boadu went on to emphasise the importance of using established legal frameworks rather than creating parallel systems.
“We have our courts of law, we have EOCO (Economic and Organised Crime Office), we have CHRAJ (Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice) we have all these investigative bodies which we have been using.”
She also referenced recent cases to illustrate the effectiveness of the current legal system.
“In fact, the present minister of finance (designate), we sat in this studio and we’re talking of the ambulance case, if you remember, and we’re giving various perspectives, but thanks be to God, a court of law, the court of appeal has exonerated him and so now he can be appointed or nominated as a minister and then confirmed by parliament, right? That is how it is; there are systems in place for all this, so we must use the systems.”
Highlighting the fairness of the system, she pointed to the case of former Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) CEO Stephen Kwabena Opuni.
“Opuni, he wasn’t condemned; he’s been given the chance to go through a court of law. There are systems in place and those systems must be used in a constitutional democracy.”
Ofori-Boadu warned against undermining these systems by introducing what she described as “kangaroo courts” or “kangaroo systems.”
She expressed disbelief at the lack of clarity surrounding the ORAL team’s mandate, timeline, and nationwide reach.
“When I learnt what it meant and I sat on TV and saw these older men looking around, I was like, ‘This is ridiculous,’ she said.
“What are their timelines? What is their mandate? Are they going to go all over Ghana? What is the structure? Please, it is not on.”
In a call for reform rather than disruption, Ofori-Boadu emphasised that Ghana’s constitutional democracy must remain the bedrock of the fight against corruption.
“Let’s use the system. Those in power now have benefitted from the system. The systems and structures in the constitutional democracy are what must be used. Let’s not introduce any kangaroo courts or kangaroo systems.”
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