Cecilia Dapaah saga: No law criminalises stashing money at home - Sam Okudzeto chides critics

Veteran Ghanaian lawyer, Sam Okudzeto, has jumped to the defence of embattled former Minister of Sanitation, Cecilia Dapaah, amid criticisms that she stashed money in her residence.

According to him, there is no law that criminalises the stashing of cash at home, hence, she cannot be accused of wrongdoing without providing evidence to back the claims.

He stated that Ghanaians have not been fair to the former sanitation minister, as many have made harsh criticisms of her after it emerged that she had been keeping huge sums of money in her house.

The issue became a legal matter after it was reported that some of the monies went missing, and the case was reported to the police.

“The question is, if you come and you find money with me, do I owe any duty to you to explain whose money? When nobody has complained that I have stolen his money, over a million, what difference does it make? Foreign currency?

"Look, Ghanaians are not honest people. When you see all these huge buildings that they are building,. Nobody asked them where they got the money from, when they started it, or when it was completed. Nobody does,” he said in an interview with TV3 and monitored by GhanaWeb.

He asserted that no law bars individuals from stashing monies at home until substantial evidence is provided.

“Do the lawyers convict people on circumstantial evidence? When you go to the criminal court, you must establish the issues beyond all reasonable doubt. That's what the criminal law says. The criminal law is not based upon suspicion or a mere allegation,” he added.

Background:

Cecilia Dapaah is currently under investigation by the OSP for corruption and corruption-related offences after two of her houses helps were charged for stealing more than $1 million, €300,000 in cash and other valuable items from her residence at Abelemkpe.

The OSP, for a second time, froze the accounts of the embattled former minister effective September 5, 2023, after an Accra High Court directed the office to unfreeze the accounts and investments of the former minister, Cecilia Dapaah, and return her seized monies, after an initial freeze order.

GhanaWeb, on August 9, 2023, reported that the embattled former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah’s assets and bank accounts containing millions of dollars and cedis had been frozen by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

On October 16, 2023, the OSP revoked the freeze order on 5 of the bank accounts belonging to Cecilia Dapaah.

The office indicated that although it has released 5 of the bank accounts, the freezing order is still in force and effect in respect of the other bank accounts and financial assets of the embattled former minister.

SB/AE