Former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has filed an affidavit at the High Court challenging the second order of the court aimed at confirming the seizure of monies discovered in her home by operatives of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and the freezing of her bank accounts.
The OSP had, on September 11, filed the second motion in an attempt to have the monies, suspected to be tainted property, investigated.
On July 24, 2023, the OSP seized five hundred and ninety thousand United States dollars ($590,000.00) and two million eight hundred and sixty-two thousand and seven Ghana cedis from the residence of Madam Cecilia Dapaah following a news publication in the Chronicle newspaper that some persons had been arraigned for allegedly stealing $1,000,000.00 dollars from her home.
On August 31, 2023, an Accra High Court presided over by Justice Edward Twum dismissed the OSP’s move to confirm the seizure of Madam Dapaah’s monies and the freezing of her bank accounts on grounds that the OSP suspected them to be tainted property.
In compliance with the court's order to return Madam Cecilia Dapaah's properties within seven (7) days, the OSP announced on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, that it had complied with the court's order but had subsequently re-seized Madam Cecilia Dapaah's properties to aid ongoing investigations, citing reasonable grounds that the cash sums remained suspected tainted property.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor also claimed that the second seizure was effected to prevent loss, concealment, or dissipation pending the completion of the ongoing investigation.
However, in an affidavit in opposition to the motion for confirmation of the freezing and seizure of her property, Madam Cecilia Dapaah described the OSP’s action 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."
Ms. Dapaah argued that the OSP’s assertion that her husband was covering up for her regarding the ownership and source(s) of the money reported stolen from their home was not only false but also showed the OSP’s prejudice and lack of impartiality required in conducting investigations.
She also contested other statements made by the OSP in its affidavit, such as her alleged registration of a company called "Dermacare Cosmetics," and its involvement in an undisclosed real estate business, and the use of concealed identity and aliases to sell property to third parties, labeling them as false.
Ms. Dapaah demanded a retraction of the OSP’s defamatory words and an unqualified apology. She warned that if the OSP refused to issue the requested apology, she would instruct her lawyers to institute legal action for the damage and injury caused to her integrity.
The OSP’s application was expected to be moved at the High Court on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. However, a lawyer for Ms. Dapaah, Victoria Barth, has filed an application for an abridgment of time for the application to be heard by the court earlier.
The application for an abridgment of time is expected to be heard on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.
GA/SARA
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Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng and Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah