Kenneth Kwabena Agyei Kuranchie, the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Searchlight newspaper, has filed a writ at the Supreme Court challenging the legality of the Mahama government’s Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL).
On September 24, 2025, Kuranchie filed his writ invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Article 2(1)(b) of the 1992 Constitution.
According to Kenneth Kwabena Agyei Kuranchie, the formation and operations of ORAL, including its investigations, decisions, reports, and prosecutions involving present and former government officials, are unconstitutional.
He argues that ORAL lacks the legal mandate required under the Constitution to perform such functions.
It will be recalled that on February 10, 2025, the ORAL team submitted their final report to President John Mahama, who has since directed the Attorney General for further actions.
The chairman of Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) and Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa revealed that with just 36 cases, Ghana can potentially recover $ 20.49 billion in stolen state resources.
Kenneth Kwabena Agyei Kuranchie is seeking;
“A declaration that all reports, decisions, investigations, and conclusions made by ORAL are unconstitutional and therefore null and void.
A declaration that all prosecutions arising from ORAL’s activities are unconstitutional.
An order directing the Attorney General to halt all actions stemming from ORAL’s operations until the Supreme Court rules on the case.
An order for a full audit of all public funds spent on ORAL’s activities.
An order to surcharge individuals involved in ORAL for any government expenditures identified in the audit”.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General is expected to respond within 14 days of being served.
In related news, Kofi Bentil, a private legal practitioner, has said that the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) was overhyped and it is under-delivering.
According to Kofi Bentil, despite his criticism of ORAL performance, he maintains his support for the overall goal of fighting corruption.
Speaking on The Key Points on TV3, Saturday, September 27, Kofi Bentil stated, “ORAL was overhyped and it is under-delivering. But I support the call to fight corruption”.
Additionally, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Srem Sai, has reassured Ghanaians that the John Mahama-led government is working to pursue cases under the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) initiative.
According to Dr Srem Sai, the concerns about the pace of ORAL cases are legitimate, but he stressed that due process must be followed.
Speaking in an interview on TV3, Dr Srem Sai stated, “The public will say they don’t see anything, but the point I am trying to make is that the expectation is legitimate because of what we have witnessed.
The work we are doing is very thorough and vibrant. I hardly sleep, but the public has to be made aware that we just can’t bundle people based on complaints and throw them into jail”.
Dr Srem Sai also added that the legal vacation had contributed to delays.
“To the extent that for Adu Boahene, we have covered one-third of the case, if not for the legal vacation, which stops the court for two months, we would probably have concluded our case, and then the defence would be open.
We will come back in October and continue from where we left off. That is very fast if you compare it with all the other criminal trials that we are even doing here,” he noted.
See the writ below:
Source: Ghnow.com
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