Private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini has questioned resigned Sanitation and Water Resources Minister’s assertion that media reports are contradictory with how much money she claims was stolen from her residence.
Two housemaids who worked for the Sanitation Minister and her husband at their home were charged with stealing large amounts of money and other valuables on Friday, according to media sources.
Between July and October 2022, 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei are accused of stealing US$1 million, €300,000, and millions of Ghana cedis. Mrs. Dapaah’s husband’s clothes, purses, perfumes, jewellery, kente fabric, and suits, costing thousands of dollars, were allegedly stolen.
After publishing, Cecilia Dapaah was criticised. Surprisingly, she has questioned the quantities believed to have been taken, citing “noticeable inconsistencies” in her police report.
“Whereas I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the Police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position,” she added in her resignation letter.
Samson Anyenini says the charge sheet has been altered twice and wonders whether she will again.
On Monday, July 24, Samson Anyenini said he would not be shocked if the charge sheet is altered to show the amount taken is $1.
He said the complainant(s) is handed the charge sheet before the police take a case to court for any changes.
Read also: OSP arrests, interrogate ousted Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah over stolen “huge” cash
Well, when you make a complaint to the Police and they are about to file your charges in the court, they normally will check with you because sometimes certain errors are made and sometimes they even put the matter in court before you discover that they have made some errors and their attention is drawn and they go back and make the necessary corrections and do what we call an amendment.’
The court’s 10-count charge sheet has been revised twice. June 5 saw a modification, and June 20 saw another. I don’t know why any adjustment is still needed. The first value, a million dollars, has never changed in any of the revisions, and the second figure, €300,000, has never changed.
“I think part of the money said to have been given to the boyfriend appeared to have been changed to the current amount. I don’t understand her discrepancies. The Police would have double-checked the statistics with you. So I don’t know what they’re talking about when they say there are contradictions between the police report and the charge sheet.”
“It’s entirely up to them to amend and reduce the $1m to $1. “If it’s $1 stolen, that’s up to them,” he replied.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor verified Cecilia Dapaah’s arrest for corruption-related charges.
The Special Prosecutor stated, “At 11:55 GMT on 24 July 2023, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who resigned from the position of Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources on 22 July 2023, was placed under arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money and other valuable items reportedly stolen from her residence.”
