Cecilia Dapaah
The legal team of Cecilia Dapaah, a former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, has issued a stern warning against the publication of what they described as false information against their client in the media.
According to the team, figures being reported by JoyNews as what was found in the various bank accounts of their client which were frozen by the Special Prosecutor are inaccurate.
The warning was contained in an email dated August 11, 2023 and sent to the media houses which published the stories complained about, to register their displeasure.
Madam Dapaah is under investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for corruption and corruption-related offences following a theft in her home involving millions of Ghana Cedis and huge sums of foreign currencies.
The OSP has administratively frozen the bank accounts of the former minister at both Prudential Bank Limited and Societe Generale, which are said to contain substantial amounts of Ghana Cedis and other foreign currencies.
The investigative body on August 8, 2023 subsequently filed an application before an Accra High Court seeking to confirm the seizure of the monies at her home as well as the freezing of the accounts pending further investigation into the true ownership and source of the monies.
The accounts identified and frozen so far include four separate ones held by the minister at the Ring Road Central branch of Prudential Bank; three different accounts with Societe Generale, with one at the Airport City branch and two at its Madina branch, all in Accra.
The application indicated that officers of the OSP found a total of $590,000 and GH¢2.73 million at the Abelemkpe residence of the former Minister and seized same “on reasonable grounds that they were suspected tainted property in accordance with Section 32(1) of 959 as it was necessary to exercise the power of seizure to prevent concealment of the cash sums.”
The application did not disclose any amount of money found in any of the seven bank accounts which the OSP is seeking a court order to prolong the freeze pending the conclusion of its investigation.
There were, however, media reports alleging that the OSP found US$5 million and GH₵48 million in the bank accounts, without attributing it to any credible sources.
The OSP on August 10, 2023, released a statement debunking the figures mentioned in the publications and urged the public to “disregard media accounts on purported bank balances reported to have been disclosed by the OSP.”
Madam Dapaah’s legal team have subsequently issued a warning against the continuous publication of the false information, which they say goes against the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence that she is legally entitled to.
The emails to the media houses emphasised the damage caused by the false publication on their client’s reputation and therefore, called for an immediate retraction and an apology of the stories within three days.
These are to be done using the same means and coverage as the reports complained about.
The email said the legal team would be left with no other choice but to pursue legal actions against the media outlets to address the harm caused if the demands are not met within the specified timeframe.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak