The Accra High Court has issued a directive to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to promptly return seized funds to former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah, within a span of seven days, as per recent reports.
In early August, it was revealed that the accounts of the former minister, both in cedis and dollars, had been frozen by the OSP as part of ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption and related activities.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has been conducting a thorough investigation into the alleged corrupt practices of Madam Dapaah. This inquiry was initiated following revelations that she had over $1 million stored at her residence.
These unfolding events coincide with efforts by both the police and the Attorney General’s office to prosecute individuals accused of stealing funds from the former minister’s home.
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The spotlight was cast on Cecilia Dapaah in July 2023 when reports emerged from the Chronicle Newspaper, stating that her domestic staff were facing court charges for alleged embezzlement of $1 million, 300,000 euros, as well as a substantial amount of cedis, and personal belongings owned by the former minister and her husband, collectively valued at a significant sum in both Ghanaian Cedis and dollars.
In response to the public outcry that followed, Cecilia Dapaah resigned from her ministerial post, which she had held for the past five years. In her resignation statement, she expressed her intention not to disrupt the government’s functioning and expressed confidence that any investigation would vindicate her integrity.
Following her resignation, she was taken into custody by the OSP but was subsequently granted bail. On Monday, July 24, 2023, officials from the Office of the Special Prosecutor conducted a search at the former Minister of Sanitation’s residence as part of their ongoing investigation.
