Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has dismissed claims that the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) initiative is no longer active, insisting that the team is still working to pursue cases arising from its investigations.

According to him, ORAL has continued to support efforts to prosecute alleged cases of corruption and recover public resources since its establishment.

Speaking on The Law on JoyNews with Samson Lardy Anyenini on Sunday, July 26, Dr Srem-Sai said the initiative has been effective in ensuring that cases identified through its work are pursued through the appropriate legal processes.

"ORAL is still working," he said.

He explained that the initiative has contributed to the identification and prosecution of several cases, adding that one of the outcomes of its work is the prosecution of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, commonly known as Chairman Wontumi.

"We started Wontumi in January; by the middle of March, we had closed our case. We have finished with Wontumi. Where has it happened before that a case has gone through trial between the middle of January and been done within two months? So ORAL is working," he noted.

Background

On July 20, the Accra High Court sentenced Chairman Wontumi to 20 years' imprisonment over illegal mining activities on the Samreboi concession in the Western Region.

READ ALSO: Court convicts Wontumi on six illegal mining charges over Samreboi concession

Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, who presided over the Criminal Division of the High Court, delivered the sentence shortly after 11:40 am on Monday, July 20, 2026, bringing to an end one of the country’s most closely watched illegal mining prosecutions.

The court also imposed a fine of 10,000 penalty units, equivalent to GH¢120,000, with a default sentence of three years' imprisonment if the fine is not paid.