NPP can be so daft - Former deputy youth organiser slams party over opposition to ORAL

A former Deputy National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Elvis Banoemuleng Botah, has slammed members of his party, including its Members of Parliament (MPs), for criticising the work of the Operation Recover All Loot (ORAL) preparatory committee set up by President John Dramani Mahama.

According to Dr. Botah, a former Member of Parliament hopeful on the ticket of the NPP, the Minority MPs raising concerns about the legitimacy of the ORAL committee are only expressing their ignorance.

He asserted that concerns raised about the legality of ORAL are unnecessary because the initiative is an operation and not an established project of an institution.

Dr. Botah, who is a lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), likened the work of the ORAL team to citizens' arrest of people who are caught engaging in criminal activities.

“ORAL is an operation. It's a project. It's not an institution. NPP can be so daft sometimes. I don't understand this, my party NPP can be daft. This is what happens when you appoint elements who don't even understand anything and don't read. ORAL is not an institution for you to be raising issues about its legality and legitimacy.

“Haven't the constitution of the Republic of Ghana guaranteed even for civil arrest? If we know that Mr A or B stole something belonging to the state, we are enjoined by the laws of Ghana to actually go conduct an arrest, carry the person to the police station and actually tell them what we know as pointers to them and using evidence to establish culpability. If we behave that way, are we police? If we behave, you and I behave that way, are we police? Does that mean we've arrogated to ourselves the powers of police? No,” he said during a panel discussion on Pan African TV on January 16, 2025.

The academic went on to accuse the party of fielding people with no expertise to top positions.

He said that the party’s failure to choose the right people is the reason the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government failed and was voted out by Ghanaians.

“So, this is what happens when you have a political party that came to power, forgot they have the men, ignored those from academia, intellectuals, technocrats who have knowledge, ignored us and brought elements who don't read to come and occupy positions. Their whole plan is to wake up every morning, sit in Land Cruisers, drive to the office, catch the cameras, then sycophants supporting them will put their pictures on social media and start giving them titles and praising them. That was the administration Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ran.

“And that is why we are in this situation. Otherwise, if the whole plan of ORAL was to transition into a criminal investigation institution, we would have had moral grounds to talk about it and to question its legality. Are you understanding me? We would have had moral basis to even question the integrity of the people fitted in that institution,” he reiterated.

The lecturer's remarks come following a press conference by the Minority Caucus of Parliament, criticising the establishment of the Operation Recover All Loots (ORAL) committee, calling it an unconstitutional body and advising former government officials to boycott its activities.

John Darko, the Member of Parliament for Suame, asserted that the creation of ORAL undermines the authority of constitutionally established bodies already empowered to investigate alleged misconduct by government officials.

“No serious country will entertain anything like this. So, if you are a former government official and receive an invitation from this so-called ORAL, the Minority’s advice is to boycott it,” he said at the press conference on January 15, 2025.

He added, “We will not participate because we believe constitutionally mandated bodies are equipped to investigate any alleged mistakes of the government.

Watch the Dr Botah's comments in the videos below: