It’s quite sad - Martin Kpebu expresses disappointment over OSP case on Cecilia Dapaah

Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has expressed disappointment regarding the Office of the Special Prosecutor's (OSP) decision to drop the criminal trial, application for confirming the seizure, and freezing of funds and bank accounts belonging to former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah.

Despite his disappointment, Martin Kpebu acknowledged that the decision was legally required.

He said he believes that the OSP's work played a pivotal role in the country's governance discourse, exposing corruption within the administration led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng, in a press conference in Accra, announced the discontinuation of the case against the former sanitation minister and her associates.

He added that the case has officially been transferred to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

Agyebeng explained that his office made this decision as they realized the case did not fall within their remit.

He stressed that no direct and immediate evidence of corruption was found in the seized funds and frozen bank accounts associated with Dapaah and her associates.

This conclusion follows almost seven months of extensive investigation by the OSP and a concurrent inquiry by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States.

Speaking to Eyewitness News on Citi FM, Martin Kpebu expressed his disappointment at the development.

"It's quite sad. It's sad, but that's the state of the law. But thank God, you know, even though initially I was excited, but you know, as the weeks went on, it became clear that we were not getting any headway in terms of who brought the money.

"But I am still excited that the fact that we found hardcore evidence has given us an opportunity to bash this government and hold them accountable. These are the things that we have always known have been happening, but Akufo-Addo denied that there is no corruption in his government. So though so far we don't have hardcore evidence that it is corruption, that case still serves a very critical purpose in our governance discourse. We are still using it sufficiently in our public space. So for me, in that case, means we have not lost it all," he concluded.

NAY/AE