Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Justice Srem Sai, says the country’s long-running failure to recover stolen state funds is coming to an end, because the legal landscape has changed.
“We will succeed in terms of recovery,” he said firmly. “Because, first of all, plea bargaining used not to be part of our laws. Now it is.”
He was speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, responding to a pointed question from host Evans Mensah about why Ghanaians should believe the new government-backed Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative would fare any better than past efforts.
“Almost every Attorney General has failed at this,” the journalist said. “People go to jail when governments change, but when it comes to recovery, we’ve been abysmal. Why will this be different?”
Dr. Srem Sai answered without hesitation saying, “Now we have a legal framework for recoveries, and that is voluntary recovery under plea bargaining”.
“It’s not just about jailing people. It’s about following the money, and taking it back.”
He revealed that beyond the new plea bargaining provisions, the Attorney General’s Department has developed what he called “a very sophisticated system of asset recovery.”
[embedded content]“What these people do is to use every legitimate means possible to trace assets,” he said. “So if you have an account in Ghana, we will know. If you have five accounts in different banks, we will know.”
He gave a glimpse into how the system works, citing the case involving the former Signals Bureau boss, Kwabena Adu-Boahen.
“If you were in court today, you’d have seen the disclosures we filed. About 60 of them were bank statements, bank correspondences. They show exactly how money moves,” he said.
“Money is traceable. That’s the point. You’ll see this person moved money from this account at 2 pm. Then we go to the accused’s account at another bank—at 3 pm, the money’s there.
“You can see they took the cash. Then, a few hours later, that same amount appears in a real estate company’s account. It’s like watching a film. You follow the money, and the story tells itself.”
Dr. Srem Sai insisted that this is no longer about guesswork or empty promises.
“You see, before now, we didn’t have the tools. But now we do. The plea bargaining framework allows us to negotiate recoveries. And with asset tracing, the evidence is solid.”
While Ghanaians remain sceptical after decades of high-profile prosecutions with no compensation for the state, Dr. Srem Sai said the tide is turning.
“We are not just punishing. We are recovering. And this time, we’re ready.”
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