An Accra High Court has granted bail of GHC750K each, with two sureties, to Cecilia Dapaah‘s former househelps and five others.
This comes after five other individuals were re-arrested and charged with 31 new charges from the Office of the Attorney General who are former househelps to the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor.
11 counts of money laundering are among the new charges, which were not previously included in the seven (7) counts for which the defendants were on trial in an Accra Circuit Court.
The seven were detained again yesterday after being released from a Circuit Court in Accra, which was chaired by Her Honour Afia Owusua Appiah, after the prosecution withdrew its case to be heard in the High Court.
Cecilia Dapaah's Former Househelps and 5 Others Granted GHC750K Bail Each#UTVNews pic.twitter.com/sz580X34Jn
— UTV Ghana (@utvghana) November 10, 2023
Court records kept at the Criminal Division of the High Court registry in Accra describe how the two housemaids came up with a scheme and copied the keys to the couple’s store room and bedroom, which they were able to access while they were away.
The two housemaids, Patience Botwe and Sarah Agyei, were accused of stealing on four counts of conspiracy and six counts of substantive charges.
According to court documents, the two planned to steal $410,000, €300,000, and GH¢350,000 in total, and they were successful.
According to the documents, the money was divided as follows: $200,000 that belonged to Mr. Kuffuor’s niece Dorcas Akua Owiredu, which she had sent for the project’s construction; $210,000 that was missing from a box that contained roughly $800,000 that belonged to Madam Cecilia Dapaah‘s deceased brother; €300,000 that belonged to Mr. Kuffuor; GH¢300 that was a contribution for Madam Dapaah’s mother’s funeral; and an additional GH¢50,000 that belonged to the former minister.
Sara Agyei is once more charged with stealing $95,000 worth of jewelry that belonged to the former minister.
The remaining five defendants, Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary, and Yahaya Sumaila, are accused of receiving different amounts of the pilfered money in an untruthful manner.
