Builsa South Member of Parliament Dr Clement Apaak has asked the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to be swift in investigating the immediate past Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources Madam Ceclila Abena Dapaah.
Dr Apaak said the issues involving Madam Abena Dapaah are national issues that have generated intense public interest.
“It is not just about arresting her, Ghanaians are expecting agility from the special prosecutor to get to the bottom of this issue, that we need to know the source of the money because we are in need of money as a country, the country is broke, we can’t pay capitation grants, special need schools have not received feeding grants since January so yes we want to know the source of the money.
“If it is our money, it should be returned with interest,” Dr Apaak told journalists in Parliament on Monday, July 24.
The OSP has placed the immediate past Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources Cecilia Abana Dapaah under arrest on Monday, July 24.
She is being interrogated by officers of the OSP, a statement said.
“At 11:55 GMT on 24th July 2023, Cecilia Abena Dapaah who resigned from the position of Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources on 22nd July 2023 was placed under arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offenses regarding large amounts of money and valuable items reportedly stolen from her residence. Ms Dapaah is being questioned by authorized officers of the OSP,” the OSP said in the statement.
Madam Cecilia Dapaah tendered her resignation in a letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Saturday, July 22 barely 24 hours after news of some foreign cash stolen from her bedroom came to light.
“I intend to cooperate fully with all the state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts,” she assured in her letter.
“I have no doubt that at the end of the processes it will be established that I have conducted myself with integrity during my period in public service and I will be fully exonerated from all the allegations,” she further said.
Madam Cecilia Dapaah was said to have kept $1 million, €300,000 and millions of undisclosed Ghana Cedis at home.
These monies were allegedly stolen by two house helps, for which they are standing trial at an Accra Circuit Court.
She had earlier indicated that there were inconsistencies with the facts and the public reports.
She, therefore, insisted in her resignation letter that the figures put out in the public domain do not correctly reflect what she and her husband submitted to the police in their statement.
The former lawmaker, however, admits she understands the import of such stories around someone of her stature.
“I am resigning, therefore, because I do not want such a matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government at such a crucial time.”