Former Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has indicated that the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) committee was a dangerous precedent set by President John Dramani Mahama.

When he appeared on Nhyira Fm’s ‘Kuro Yi Mu Nsem’ show, programme host, Nana Kwadwo Jantuah, posed a question: “how do you see Mahama’s performance so far?”

The former Minister of Parliamentary Affairs responded: “It is important they start right so they can end well. He’s not done too badly but there are a few things that need to be discussed. An example is the ORAL. The ORAL is a dangerous precedent he set for the country”.

“To do a proper assessment of every government, you have to wait for the first 100 days. It’s too early to rate Mahama but I have my reservations about a few things,” he added.

But Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu believes the President did not have the mandate to set the ORAL Committee at the time that he did.

“The Operation Recover All Loots was set even when he wasn’t President yet. He was the President-elect and hadn’t been sworn in. So executive authority was not in his hands. He didn’t have that power to establish the ORAL team,” stated.

The former MP for Suame pointed out that looting is a criminal offense and establishing the act of looting can only be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“What does it mean to loot?” he quizzed. “To loot means a person has stolen something which isn’t theirs. So looting is a criminal offense. And before we establish someone has looted something, a court of competent jurisdiction needs to determine whether you have looted.”

He added “the constitution guarantees the right to own property individually or as a collective. If you can’t establish the individual has not created their own wealth but looted, then it is a serious accusation”.

Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu argues the need and reason for the ORAL team set by the President and believes it is ‘defamation’ to accuse anyone of looting.