On Monday, September 11, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) initiated legal proceedings by submitting a motion to the High Court.
They sought the court’s confirmation of the previously issued seizure and freezing orders for the financial assets of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah.
A hearing for this matter has been scheduled for October 18, 2023.
It’s worth noting that on August 9, the Cedi and Dollar bank accounts belonging to the former minister were frozen by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
However, this decision was subsequently overturned by the High Court in Accra on August 31. The court directed that the seized funds be returned to Cecilia Dapaah within seven days and also ordered the OSP to unfreeze her accounts.
Following the High Court’s order to return the seized money, the OSP exercised its authority to regain possession of the funds just a few days later.
Background
Madam Dapaah, former Sanitation Minister, became the talk of the town in July 2023, when the Chronicle Newspaper reported that her domestic help had been dragged to court for allegedly stealing $1 million, 300,000 euros, several millions of cedis and personal effects of the former minister and her husband valued at thousands of Ghana Cedis and dollars.
Cecilia Dapaah subsequently resigned from her position after a public uproar. She was arrested by the OSP and was later granted bail.
On Monday, July 24, 2023, a team from the Office of the Special Prosecutor conducted a search of the residence of the former Minister of Sanitation.
During the operation, the OSP reported the discovery of significant amounts of money, including US$590,000 and GHC2.7 million in cash, at the former minister’s apartment.
In response to these findings, officials from the Office of the Special Prosecutor promptly took action, confiscating these substantial cash sums as critical pieces of evidence to aid in the ongoing investigation.
Additionally, the OSP imposed freezes on seven bank accounts belonging to Cecilia Dapaah.