Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has resigned over the case of US$1 million, 300,000 euros and millions of Ghana cedis stolen from her Abelemkpe home by two house helps between July and October 2022.
In a letter dated July 22, 2023, addressed to Mr. President (President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo), the embattled minister said “I write to inform you that I wish to resign from my position as Minister of Sanitation and Waster Resources.”
She attributed her resignation to stories in mainstream and social media about the court case on the theft of huge sums of foreign currencies and millions of Ghana cedis in her house, which suggest those moneys were hers.
“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.
“I am resigning therefore because I do not want this matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government at such a crucial time,” she said.
Cecilia Dapaah thanked the President for the opportunity to serve her country and promised to “cooperate fully with all state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts.”
She is confident the probe will fully exonerate her from all the allegations in the media, and fully establish that she conducted herself with integrity during her period in public service.
It would appear that Cecilia Dapaah has heeded the widespread clarion call for her to do the honourable thing and resign, and also submit herself for a full probe.
Find the resignation letter attached:
Background
Cecilia Dapaah’s resignation is in respect of a case in court, in which she and her husband, Daniel Osei Kufuor alleged, per the amended charge sheet from court, that US$1 million, 300,000 euros and millions of Ghana cedis were stolen from their Abelemkpe home by two house helps between July and October 2022.
Per the charge sheet, all the millions stolen belonged to Cecilia Dapaah, except six set of suits worth US$3,000 and six pieces of kente cloth worth GHS90,000 which belonged to DK Osei.
The thieves, 30-year-old Sarah Agyei and 18-year-old Patience Botwe also stole perfumes, jewellery, handbags and other valuables worth US$95,000 belonging to the Sanitation Minister.
Furthermore, three other individuals, identified as Patience Botwe’s current and former boyfriends and her father, are also facing charges for allegedly being accomplices in the crime. They have been respectively charged with dishonestly receiving GH¢1 million, GH¢180,000, and GH¢50,000.
The court was told that Patience Botwe was caught red-handed using a duplicate key to enter the bedroom of the plaintiffs. She allegedly admitted to the crime and named Sarah Agyei as her accomplice who usually watch the main entrance while she went in to steal the money.
Sarah Agyei is said to have used part of her portion of the booty to build a three-bedroom house at Budumburam, where she was arrested, while Patience Botwe also bought a US$70,000 three-bedroom house at Amrahia in Accra and furnished it, and also rented a three-bedroom house and shop in Tamale where she was arrested, and over GHS70,000 and US$40,000 cash was retrieved.
Patience also bought a car worth GHS180,000 for her former boyfriend, Malik, who is also a defendant in the case, and she gave GHS50,000 to her father.
Sarah Agyei has been granted bail worth in the amount of GHS1 million with two sureties because she is a nursing mother, while Patience Botwe and the three other male accomplices are in police custody pending the next court date on August 2, 2023.
