A former member of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) Committee, Martin Kpebu, has disputed claims that the government could recover up to $21.19 billion from stolen state assets.
Mr Kpebu said the figure announced by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who chaired the committee, was his personal assessment and had not been collectively established or agreed upon by members of the ORAL Committee.
Speaking on Joy FM’s SMS on Wednesday, November 4, Mr Kpebu maintained that the committee had not conducted an assessment to establish the potential recovery figure.
“Let us remember that the comment that was made (by Mr Ablakwa) was a personal comment, it was not by the committee, it was one of our members who made the comment and I didn’t endorse it neither any of our member endorsed it,” he said.
“It is not a collective decision. He (Mr Ablakwa) said ‘if we are successful’, so it is a conditional clause,” he argued.
Mr Kpebu’s comments follow Mr Ablakwa’s revelation in February 2025 that the government could potentially recover $21.19 billion after reviewing 36 major cases involving high-value transactions and alleged losses of state assets through land-related dealings.
Mr Ablakwa said the estimated amount could exceed the financial support Ghana had been seeking from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Here’s a video of Okudzeto Ablakwa when he made the comment.