Five Ghanaians have petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah.
Bernard Anbataayela Mornah, Mensah Thompson, Al-Hassan Kwadwo Baidoo, Ransford Antwi and Joyce Atitso, the five signatories to the petition said the money and items the former Minister reported to the Police were looted from state coffers.
Cecilia Dapaah was forced to resign as the Sanitation Minister after a police statement revealed her house helps stole huge sums of money from her. The case took a twist when Ghanaians demanded to know the source of the money and why she kept that huge amount in her house.
According to the police statement, $1,000, 000, €300,000, jewellery valued at $95,000, GH¢350,000 and a handbag worth $35,000 were stolen by her housekeepers.
“We are citizens of Ghana and wish to petition your office to investigate Madam Cecilia Dapaah for acquiring more assets than her income,” part of the petition said. The petition listed the assets as US$ 800,000.00, €300,000.00, GHC350,000.00, US$590,000.00 and GHC2,862,007. It added that Cecilia Dapaah owned landed properties at Cantonments, Tesano and Abelemkpe and bank accounts worth millions of Cedis and Dollars.
The petitioners said they are interested in the investigation because “during interrogation by the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) as to the source of her income, Madam Cecilia Dapaah could not give any proper explanation.”
They added that Cecilia Dapaah told the OSP that some of the money belonged to her brother who owned a business. However, the OSP later found out through investigation the “businesses of her brother collapsed about fifteen (15) years ago. Therefore no businesses of her brother existed to had generated such an amount.”
Additionally, the petitioners said Cecilia Dapaah claimed she owned part of the GHS2,862,007.00 retrieved from her residence. She said the money were “sitting allowances and revenues from her cosmetic business which she registered under the name Dermacare Cosmetics. However, OSP’s investigation revealed that Madam Dapaah is not the registered legal owner of the business but rather one Marian Awuah.”
They argued that the properties are beyond Madam Cecilia Dapaah’s income based on the findings from the investigation. CHRAJ, per the petition, is called upon to investigate “the acquisition of her assets in light of her income”
