Cecilia Dapaah
Sarah Agyei, one of the former housemaids of Cecilia Dapaah, broke down in tears yesterday just when the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources was being cross-examined by her lawyer.
Augustine Gyamfi, counsel for the accused, after a series of questions turned his attention to a photograph depicting the accused person carrying a jewelry box which Madam Dapaah had identified as hers.
The lawyer sought to suggest that the jewelry box was too cheap to contain the gold and diamond jewelries that the former minister reported as stolen.
“The jewelry cover as found in the picture which depicts A2 (Sarah Agyei) as attached to the investigator’s witness statement, were not the cover that you keep your jewelry in,” the lawyer queried.
“That is not correct,” Madam Dapaah answered, insisting the jewelry box in the photograph is hers.
It was at this point that Sarah Agyei broke down in tears and began mumbling words from the dock, drawing the judge’s attention to calm her down.
The judge told her she can’t address the court directly until given the chance to do so. Justice Marie Louise-Simon however told her to talk to her lawyer if she had anything to say.
The lawyer approached her, and while still crying, and in an audible tone, she told the lawyer she did not steal the jewelry box.
GH¢50k Personal Money
Meanwhile, Madam Dapaah has told the court that the accused persons stole GH¢50,000 of her personal money out of the entire $410,000, €300,000 and GH¢350,000 that was stolen from her home after Patience Botwe, who she had fired, entered one of their rooms.
Asked how much Sarah Agyei stole from the total sum, the witness said she could not tell, adding that they noticed that the monies were stolen over a period of time.
She also debunked the defence counsel’s suggestion that the money could have been stolen by other persons who had access to the former minister’s house, including her personal body guards and drivers.
She said the drivers never entered the room, and debunked claims by the lawyer that those individuals come inside the house to eat.
Augustine Gyamfi also suggested that Madam Dapaah and her husband Daniel Osei Kuffuor, were making inferences that Sarah Agyei was part of those who stole the monies and jewelleries because she was once in their employment.
“Me and my husband, we are not inferring anything. Investigations revealed that she was part,” Madam Dapaah responded.
Plea Bargain
Meanwhile, Justice Louise-Simon has directed defence lawyers in the matter to prepare themselves to cross-examine Madam Dapaah irrespective of their intentions to enter a plea bargain with the prosecution.
According to her, there is no document before the court indicating that five of the accused persons are in a plea bargain negotiations, and once the witness was still in the box, they must cross-examine to soil the situation where she may have to come back to court in case the negotiations fail.
Patience Botwe and Sarah Agyei, the two housemaids, have been charged for conspiracy and stealing, while Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary and Yahaya Sumaila, are facing charges of dishonestly receiving from the stolen money.
While the trial is ongoing, Patience Botwe, Sarah Agyei, Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, and Yahaya Sumaila have chosen to plea bargain with the Office of the Attorney General, for a lighter punishment.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak