Law lecturer at the UPSA Law School, Justice Abdulai is urging the state to drop criminal charges against the 5 persons standing trial for allegedly stealing millions of cash in foreign and local currencies from the home of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.
Justice Abdulai said the 5 especially the 2 house helps of the embattled former Minister could provide useful information to aid investigation into the matter since they lived and witnessed activities in the house where the monies were stashed.
He is, thus, asking the state to halt their prosecution and rather make them witnesses in the ongoing investigation and future prosecution of the case.
“They (5 accused persons) have more information than possibly, the minister will be willing to give out and so my strongest recommendation is that their prosecution be halted at this moment, let’s listen to them, let’s know what they saw, what they heard, what they witnessed and possibly, if it’s useful to have them as prosecutorial witnesses, to use them for that purposes rather than prosecuting them at this moment,” he argued.
Co-chair of the Citizens Movement Against Corruption, Edem Senanu agrees with his suggestion but wants the state to provide the 5 with protection.
According to him, because of the quantum of information they particularly the house helps may be privy to, they could be targeted at and harmed.
“There’s a certain value that they (the 5) bring to this particular investigations and so we should be cautious because depending on what they know, you may have other people with certain interest thinking of harming them”.
He, therefore, urged the state to not just seek to extract information from them in its investigation of the matter but also provide them with maximum protection.
In documents filed at an Accra Circuit Court, the two house helps – former and current – allegedly conspired and stole an amount of $1 million, another amount of €300,000 and millions of Ghana Cedis belonging to the former minister.
The monies, per the charge sheet, were stolen from her Abelemkpe residence where she had stashed them.
The main suspect, Patience Botwe also allegedly stole assorted clothes, Kente clothes, handbags, perfumes and 6 sets of men suit valued at tens of thousands of Ghana Cedis and thousands of US dollars belonging to the former Sanitation Minister and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour.
They subsequently used the spoils to acquire properties including houses and gave some to the 3 other suspects.
The revelation sparked concerns over the source of such huge amounts of money, with many calling for the minister’s resignation and an investigation into the issue.
She has since resigned and was yesterday arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor and her home searched as part of investigation into the matter.
