A report by TV3 has revealed that more money was found in the home of Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former sanitation minister who is under investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for suspected corruption and corruption-related offences. The report claimed that it took officials of the OSP close to five hours to count the amount of cash discovered in her residence.

According to TV3's reporter Eric Mawuena Egbeta, who cited sources within the OSP, the search at Ms Dapaah's residence on Monday, 24 July 2023, yielded more cash than what was initially reported. He said it was not clear which of her two residences - her official residence at Cantonments or her private residence at Abelemkpe - had the latest stash.

"From the search at her residence yesterday, a lot more cash has been discovered and it took officials of the Special Prosecutor close to five hours alone in counting this amount of cash which was discovered in her home," he said in a stand-up piece in front of the offices of the OSP in Accra.

He added that some relatives of the former minister have also been questioned by the OSP about the stolen monies from her Abelemkpe residence which led to her resignation from office and the current probe by the OSP.

Ms Dapaah was granted bail on Monday, hours after the OSP announced that she had been arrested and had escorted its officials to conduct searches at her residence. She is accused of hoarding large amounts of foreign currency at her home, which were allegedly stolen by two former house helps.

The court charge sheet dated 20 July 2023 stated that Ms Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, accused the house helps of stealing a cash sum of $1m (£780,000), 300,000 euro (£255,000) and 350,000 Ghana cedis (£45,000), as well as handbags valued at $35,000 (£27,000) and $95,000-worth (£73,000) of jewellery. The alleged thefts occurred between July and October 2022.

Ms Dapaah disputes the figures given in the court document but the revelations outraged many in Ghana. The country's currency has been losing value rapidly in recent months, with those in charge of the troubled economy blaming dollar hoarders for the woes of the cedi. It was shocking for many to learn that a government minister may have been holding foreign currency herself.

Ms Dapaah resigned as minister of sanitation and water resources on Saturday, 22 July 2023, in order not to distract from the work of government. She added that she was sure that any investigation would show she had acted with integrity. She had held the post for the last five years.

However, TV3's report has been contested by pro-government voices including Paul Adom-Otchere of Metro TV who said on his Good Evening Ghana show (25 July 2023) that his checks with the OSP showed that nothing of the sort had been found.

"We understand that it is untrue and the OSP must come out and clarify, we tried to search about this and what we have is that it is not true. We don’t know why TV3 has been carrying this story since midday. It has no source, neither the Special Prosecutor or his deputy. If TV3 has further and better particulars, they should publish it tomorrow or even tonight. Because our sources indicate that the Special Prosecutor has said it is not true," he said.

It took 5 hours to count more money found in Cecilia Dapaah's home - Report

A report by TV3 has revealed that more money was found in the home of Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former sanitation minister who is under investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for suspected corruption and corruption-related offences. The report claimed that it took officials of the OSP close to five hours to count the amount of cash discovered in her residence.

According to TV3's reporter Eric Mawuena Egbeta, who cited sources within the OSP, the search at Ms Dapaah's residence on Monday, 24 July 2023, yielded more cash than what was initially reported. He said it was not clear which of her two residences - her official residence at Cantonments or her private residence at Abelemkpe - had the latest stash.

"From the search at her residence yesterday, a lot more cash has been discovered and it took officials of the Special Prosecutor close to five hours alone in counting this amount of cash which was discovered in her home," he said in a stand-up piece in front of the offices of the OSP in Accra.

He added that some relatives of the former minister have also been questioned by the OSP about the stolen monies from her Abelemkpe residence which led to her resignation from office and the current probe by the OSP.

Ms Dapaah was granted bail on Monday, hours after the OSP announced that she had been arrested and had escorted its officials to conduct searches at her residence. She is accused of hoarding large amounts of foreign currency at her home, which were allegedly stolen by two former house helps.

The court charge sheet dated 20 July 2023 stated that Ms Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, accused the house helps of stealing a cash sum of $1m (£780,000), 300,000 euro (£255,000) and 350,000 Ghana cedis (£45,000), as well as handbags valued at $35,000 (£27,000) and $95,000-worth (£73,000) of jewellery. The alleged thefts occurred between July and October 2022.

Ms Dapaah disputes the figures given in the court document but the revelations outraged many in Ghana. The country's currency has been losing value rapidly in recent months, with those in charge of the troubled economy blaming dollar hoarders for the woes of the cedi. It was shocking for many to learn that a government minister may have been holding foreign currency herself.

Ms Dapaah resigned as minister of sanitation and water resources on Saturday, 22 July 2023, in order not to distract from the work of government. She added that she was sure that any investigation would show she had acted with integrity. She had held the post for the last five years.

However, TV3's report has been contested by pro-government voices including Paul Adom-Otchere of Metro TV who said on his Good Evening Ghana show (25 July 2023) that his checks with the OSP showed that nothing of the sort had been found.

"We understand that it is untrue and the OSP must come out and clarify, we tried to search about this and what we have is that it is not true. We don’t know why TV3 has been carrying this story since midday. It has no source, neither the Special Prosecutor or his deputy. If TV3 has further and better particulars, they should publish it tomorrow or even tonight. Because our sources indicate that the Special Prosecutor has said it is not true," he said.