Former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has vehemently denied accusations made by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) that she has been involved in an undisclosed real estate business.
Cecilia Dapaah insists that the OSP has failed to produce any concrete evidence to support their claims.
The allegations against Madam Dapaah were outlined in a court document filed by the OSP, which accused her of engaging in an undisclosed and undeclared real estate business while using aliases to obscure and conceal transactions. The OSP further alleged that she cleverly funneled the proceeds of these transactions into her bank accounts and investments.
In response, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, in an abridgement of time application to the court, categorically denied all allegations made against her.
She clarified that she had only sold a property in a representative capacity on behalf of her deceased mother, Nana Yaa Ode, and refuted any involvement in an undisclosed real estate business.
“That I have an undisclosed and undeclared real estate business when I have no real estate business and Applicant has not provided a scintilla of evidence that I do. That I concealed my identity by using aliases to sell the property to third parties when Applicant’s own Exhibit OSP16 shows that I rather sold the property in a representative capacity for Nana Yaa Ode. Nana Yaa Ode also known as Nana Ode Nyarko was my mother (now deceased),” Cecilia Dapaah explained in her affidavit.
Cecilia Dapaah has expressed concern that the OSP is misusing her silence in the ongoing case and has requested the court to expedite the hearing. She argued that the OSP relied on her caution statement, taken from her earlier, to reseize her accounts and assets despite a prior court order.
“Again, the Respondent has alluded to my decision to remain silent on 7th September 2023 and is seeking to use that as further justification for the confirmation of his re-seizure of the money and re-freezing of my bank accounts which he did two days prior on 5th September 2023.”
Cecilia Dapaah’s legal counsel has argued that the OSP cannot rely on caution statements taken after the reseizure and refreezing of assets to justify their suspicions. The case continues to unfold as both sides present their arguments in court.