Cecilia Dapaah, a former minister of sanitation and water resources, has submitted an affidavit in opposition to the High Court’s second order confirming the seizure of money found in her home by agents of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the freezing of her bank accounts.
On September 11, the OSP had filed a second motion to have the money that was found that was thought to be tainted property investigated.
On July 24, 2023, the OSP raided the home of madam Cecilia Dapaah and seized five hundred ninety thousand dollars ($590,000.00) and two million eight hundred sixty-two thousand and seven Ghana cedis. This was in response to a news report in the Chronicle newspaper that claimed some people had been charged with stealing $1,000,000.00 from Ms Dapaah’s home.
The OSP’s initial attempt to confirm the seizure of madam Dapaah‘s funds and the freezing of her bank accounts was rejected by an Accra High Court presided over by Justice Edward Twum on August 31, 2023, on the grounds that the OSP suspected the funds to be tainted property.
The OSP announced on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, that it had complied with the court’s order to return Madam Cecilia Dapaah’s properties to her within seven (7) days, but that it had continued to re-seize Madam Cecilia Dapaah’s properties to support their ongoing investigations on the basis of reasonable grounds that the cash sums of money remained suspected tainted property.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor further asserted that the second seizure was carried out in accordance with section 32 of the OSP Act (Act 959) in order to prevent loss, concealment, or dissipation while the ongoing investigation was still ongoing, the OSP argued that the current case is suitable and appropriate for the court to approve the seizure of the cash found in madam Cecilia Dapaah’s home and the freezing of her accounts.
However, the OSP’s action is characterized in the affidavit as “absurd, grounded on false allegations, and brought in utmost bad faith and brazen disregard of Act 959 and the early ruling of the high court dated 31 August 2023” in opposition to the motion for confirmation of the freezing and seizure of Ms Dapaah’s property, deposed to by madam Cecilia Dapaah herself.
The OSP’s claim that Ms. Dapaah’s husband is protecting her in regard to the ownership and source(s) of the money they reported stolen from their home, according to Ms. Dapaah’s affidavit, is not only untrue but also demonstrates the OSP’s bias and lack of the impartiality necessary to carry out his mandate in conducting investigations.
Other claims made by the OSP in its affidavit are false, and the OSP’s good faith and diligent investigations would have revealed these facts to the Special Prosecutor. For example, the OSP claims that Ms. Dapaah claimed she registered a company called “Dermacare Cosmetics,” that she had an undisclosed and undeclared real estate business, and that she used a concealed identity and aliases to sell property to third parties.
On Wednesday, October 18, 2023, the OSP’s application was scheduled to be heard at the High Court.
Ms. Dapaah’s attorney, Victoria Barth, has nonetheless asked the court for a shorter hearing period so that the application can be considered sooner.
Victoria Barth contends that because the OSP’s action is a repeat application, the OSP has advance knowledge of the reasons behind Ms. Dapaah’s opposition and won’t be harmed by a shortening of the time.
On October 11, 2023, a hearing on the request for a time extension is anticipated.
