The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has re-seized monies from Cecilia Dapaah’s house and re-frozen her bank accounts again, after complying with the Court’s order to un-freeze the former sanitation minister’s money and accounts.
The OSP had complied with the ruling and order of the High Court in Accra dated 31 August 2023 by unfreezing the frozen bank accounts and investments of Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
However, a deeper dive into the investigation by the OSP has revealed a myriad of conflicting accounts regarding the ownership and sources of the substantial sums of money that were purportedly stolen from Ms. Dapaah’s residence.
Thus, the Special Prosecutor has determined that freezing Ms. Dapaah’s bank accounts and investments is imperative to facilitate the ongoing investigation, after invoking his statutory authority as stipulated in section 38(1) of Act 959, along with regulation 19(1) of LI. 2374.
This directive, effective from September 5, 2023, mandates the immediate freezing of Ms. Dapaah’s bank accounts and investments.
A press statement dated September 5, 2023, issued by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng said: “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 said cash amounts from Ms. Dapaah.
Below is the full statement by the OSP: