Cecilia Dapaah and Kissi Agyebeng
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has dropped the two cases it is prosecuting against former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah before a High Court in Accra.
The Office had filed a repeat application for confirmation of seizure of $590,000 and GH₵2.73 million found in her home and the freezing of her seven bank accounts after an earlier one was dismissed by the court for not complying with the rules.
The OSP had also charged Madam Dapaah for failing to declare her assets and the case was before the same court.
But the OSP, after a meeting with the judge and defence lawyers in chambers this morning, January 25, 2024, decided to drop the two cases against the former Minister.
It is not clear what informed the decision but a source has told Dailyguidenetwork that the OSP has been given 72 hours by the court, within which to defreeze the accounts as well as return the seized funds to Madam Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor.
The OSP arrested Madam Dapaah on July 24, 2023, on suspicion of corruption and corruption-related offences after she and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor reported huge sums of money was stolen from their home by their two house maids.
The two maids, Patience Botwe and Sara Agyei as well as fine (5) other accomplices are currently standing trial before an Accra Circuit Court for stealing $1 million and several millions of Ghana Cedis from the home of the former Minister.
She resigned from her position as a Minister of state on July 22, 2023, after several calls by the general public on her to step down after a revelation of the huge sums of monies – both in Ghana Cedis and other foreign currencies were reportedly stolen from her matrimonial home.
The Office has filed a repeat application for confirmation of seizure of $590,000 and GH₵2.73 million found in her home and the freezing of her seven bank accounts after an earlier one was dismissed by an Accra High Court for not complying with the rules.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak