A private legal practitioner, Mr. Martin Kpebu has revealed that the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has frozen two bank accounts of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
This forms part of an investigation into the circumstances that led to the former government appointee keeping such huge amount of money in her home.
Speaking in an interview on Hot Edition on 3FM, Wednesday, Mr. Kpebu said, “what I am hearing is that they have found $5million in her account and GHC48m in another.”
Madam Cecilia Dapaah tendered her resignation in a letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Saturday, July 22 barely 24 hours after news of some foreign cash stolen from her bedroom came to light.
“I intend to cooperate fully with all the state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts,” she assured in her letter.
“I have no doubt that at the end of the processes it will be established that I have conducted myself with integrity during my period in public service and I will be fully exonerated from all the allegations,” she further said.
Madam Cecilia Dapaah was said to have kept $1 million, €300,000 and millions of undisclosed Ghana Cedis at home.
These monies were allegedly stolen by two house helps, for which they are standing trial at an Accra Circuit Court.
Later, the Attorney-General asked the Police to investigate the ownership of the US$200,000 and €300,000 stolen from the home of the Former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
This was after the A-G said Madam Abena Dapaah did not mention the owner of the cash.
The A-G in its advice on the money stolen from Madam Dapaah said that “[She] stated in her initial complaint that $800,000 belonged to her deceased brother and GHC300,000 of contribution towards her mother’s funeral contained in a box and a bag respectively were stolen. This is confirmed by Henry Osei Kwabena who told the police on 4th July 2023, that he brought the box of money to her sister for safekeeping.
This notwithstanding, it is important for the police to conduct independent investigations into these assertions to ascertain the following:
i. The true ownership of the amount of US$800,000. ii. The source(s) from which the established owner of the amount of US$800,000 acquired the money. iii. Whether the accused actually stole the full amount of US$800,000 from the house of the complainants.”
