Margaret Ansei, a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communication team, has provided a detailed account of the alleged theft, amounting to US$1 million, €300,000, and 350,000 Ghana cedis, from the private residence of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah.
According to Magoo, one of Cecilia Dapaah's house helps discovered a significant sum of money in the former minister's residence and seized the opportunity to pilfer a portion of the funds to build a three-bedroom apartment in Budunburam.
Speaking on a panel discussion on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on July 24, 2023, she explained that the alleged perpetrator, identified as Sarah Agyei, didn't want to relinquish the chance to enjoy more luxuries from Cecilia Dapaah’s household. Consequently, she introduced her friend, Patience Maabena Botwe, to the family as a new house help when she left the residence.
“From the story, Sarah Agyei lived with Madam Cecilia Dapaah and her husband, lived in their home, and stole money gradually to build a 3-bedroom house at Budunburam. And when she was leaving, she recommended Patience Maabena Botwe to Madam Cecilia Dapaah, and that is how she and Patience came together and kept stealing from the house. The husband of Madam Cecilia Dapaah was supposed to go to a certain meeting, but the meeting was postponed and, on his way back unannounced and unaware of the people, he caught them red-handed in his bedroom. That was when they realized that their money had been stolen.
“She had gone to build a house and left, but because she knows that she doesn’t want to stop enjoying the goodies from the couple because obviously, they will not notice it, she recommended Patience Botwe. Together with Patience, they kept stealing from her. So, if the man had not come to meet them, they would never know that money was stolen from their house,” she explained.
Ansei claims that Agyei and Botwe continued to siphon money from the former minister and her husband’s household until they were caught.
She added, “And Madam Cecilia Dapaah is the complainant for the five accused standing trial for the case, and we want the right authorities to question her about where the money is coming from. A minister of State – how much do you earn at the end of the month?”
Meanwhile, Madam Cecilia Dapaah has resigned from her position following public criticism about the monies stolen from her home.
The former minister, in her letter of resignation addressed to the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, explained that she decided to resign because the issues surrounding the monies could affect the government negatively.
However, she noted that the subject of theft in her home, as captured by many reports, has been grossly exaggerated.
"Since yesterday, Friday, July 21, 2023, social and traditional media have been full of stories about a court case involving a theft that took place last year in the home I live with my husband and daughter.
"The stories sought to suggest that I own various huge sums of foreign currencies and millions of Ghana cedis which have been stolen from my home. Whereas I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the Police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position.
"I am resigning, therefore, because I do not want this matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government at such a crucial time," parts of the letter read.
