National Communication’s Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi has described as contrived, the legal advice issued by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame on the issue of monies allegedly stolen from the home of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
According to Sammy Gyamfi, the advice issued by the A-G’s Office is an apparent attempt to cover up facts around the issue but has rather been exposed by the recent statement of the widow to the late brother of the former minister.
“The latest revelation by the wife of the deceased brother of Cecilia Dapaah is the smoking gun that shows clearly that the AG’s advice on the Cecilia Dapaah scandal is contrived and an unintelligent attempt to coverup the true facts of the case which has outraged the entire nation. Lies indeed have a short life span,” Sammy Gyamfi wrote in a Twitter post.
Irene Kensah, the wife of the deceased brother of former minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, says she has instructed her lawyers to file for the retrieval of her late husband’s part of the $1 million and other amounts said to have been stolen at the residence of the former minister.
According to the widow, while she is currently in the process of filing to retrieve part of her late husband’s properties, she only became aware of the said money through a broadcast by the host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV, Paul Adom-Otchere.
“I know nothing about that money. I heard about it just like all of you did. I was on my way to meet my lawyer about a letter of administration and the issue only came up when I was with him.
"So after my lawyer became aware, it has now become apparent that the money needs to be retrieved according to law,” she said in an interview with Sompa FM.
Madam Cecilia Dapaah has been at the centre of attention after it was recently published that her former domestic workers have been charged for stealing various amounts of money including a million dollars from her residence.
The amount involved in the matter received widespread public criticism causing the minister to resign from her post.
However, Paul Adom-Otchere during a broadcast of his programme stated that the former minister confirmed to him a breakdown of the actual ownerships of the amount involved.
According to the journalist, US$8,000000 out of the $1 million belonged to one Nana Akwasi Essan II, who is a deceased brother of Madam Dapaah.
"The US$800,000 was reported to the police and described to belong to Cecilia Dapaah’s brother… as is on the charge sheet. This 800,000 dollars is controversial because it doesn’t belong to Cecilia Dapaah and her husband.
What the A-G said
Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice has issued a legal advice to the police on the theft case involving former sanitation minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
Police after the first hearing of the case on July 20, wrote to the A-G's office seeking advice on how to proceed with the case.
In a nine-page advice available to GhanaWeb, Deputy A-G Alfred Tuah-Yeboah recounted the sequence of events leading to the theft of monies as reported by the former minister and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor - the complainants.
The advice analyzed the docket as prepared by the police and the charges proferred against the five accused persons.
It called generally for further investigations into the issue of the amount of monies discovered. A decoupling of and in some instances total dropping of some charges brought against some of the accused. In the case of one accused person, the A-G asked that all charges brought against him be dismissed.
The latest revelation by the wife of the deceased brother of Cecilia Dapaah is the smoking gun that shows clearly that the AG’s advice on the Cecilia Dapaah scandal is contrived and an unintelligent attempt to coverup the true facts of the case which has outraged the entire… pic.twitter.com/5cgK4G7vqi
— Sammy Gyamfi (@SammyGyamfi_) August 5, 2023