Cecilia Dapaah, a former minister of sanitation and water resources, won’t be receiving the money the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) took from her home any time soon.
This is due to the OSP’s use of its authority to continue holding onto the money days after the High Court ordered the office to relinquish it.
The OSP was ordered last week by the Accra High Court to restore the disputed funds and defrost Ms. Dapaah’s bank accounts.
The OSP said in a statement that it had followed with the order, but it added that investigations were still underway and that it believed the money was contaminated, leading it to decide to seize control of it.
The OSP has also frozen Cecilia Dapaah’s accounts again.
“Consequently, subsequent to the indicated ruling and order of the High Court and the compliance by the OSP with said ruling and order, the Special Prosecutor considers that freezing the bank accounts and investments of Ms. Dapaah is necessary to facilitate the ongoing investigation. Therefore, the Special Prosecutor has invoked his statutory power under section 38(1) of Act 959 and regulation 19(1) of L.I. 2374 by directing the freezing of the bank accounts and investments of Ms. Dapaah effective 5 September 2023.”
“Further, subsequent to the indicated ruling and order of the High Court and the compliance by the OSP with said ruling and order, the Special Prosecutor considers that he has reasonable grounds to suspect that the cash amounts seized from and returned to Ms. Dapaah is tainted property and it is necessary to exercise the power of seizure to prevent the concealment or loss of said cash amounts. Therefore, the Special Prosecutor has again invoked his statutory power under section 32(1)(a) of Act 959 by directing the seizure from Ms. Dapaah of the cash amounts previously seized from her. Authorized officers of the OSP have seized the said cash amounts from Ms. Dapaah.”
