Attorney General and Minister for Justice Dr. Dominic Ayine has declared that the nervousness displayed by the New Patriotic Party over the ruling NDC government’s activities is driven by the fear of criminal prosecution for corruption allegedly committed while the NPP was in power.
Ayine made the remarks in a characteristically direct broadside against the opposition, arguing that the anxiety evident within NPP circles about the current administration’s accountability agenda stems not from political disagreement but from a more personal apprehension about potential incarceration.
“The NPP’s fear stems from potential jail time for corruption committed under their watch,” Ayine said, framing the party’s resistance to the government’s legal and investigative processes as a self-interested attempt to avoid accountability rather than a principled opposition stance.
The Attorney General also reaffirmed that the Operation Recover All Loot initiative, commonly known as ORAL, remains on track and is positioned to achieve its stated objectives. ORAL, a flagship accountability commitment of the Mahama administration, was established to investigate and recover assets and funds allegedly misappropriated during the previous NPP administration under former President Nana Akufo-Addo, targeting procurement irregularities, suspected corruption in state institutions and other alleged financial misconduct.
The NPP has consistently pushed back against what it characterises as politically motivated prosecutions and investigations under the Mahama government, with Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and other party figures arguing that the arrests and detentions of NPP members since the January 2025 transition of power amount to a deliberate campaign of political persecution.
Ayine’s remarks reject that framing entirely, repositioning the government’s accountability drive as a legal obligation rather than a political project and suggesting that anyone who fears ORAL has reason to do so based on their own conduct.
The Attorney General’s confidence about the initiative’s trajectory comes as several high-profile cases involving figures linked to the previous administration move through the courts, with the NPA and investigative bodies working to assemble evidence for prosecutions that the government has indicated will not be rushed but will be pursued to their conclusion regardless of the political noise surrounding them.
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