An application by the Office of the Special Prosecutor seeking to freeze the accounts of the former sanitation minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah again will be heard by an Accra High Court on Thursday (12 October) after the court ruled to bring the date forward.
The high court presided over by Justice Edward Twum on Wednesday granted the application by lawyers of Dapaah to abridge the time.
According to the court, the application was granted in the interest of fairness and justice.
Fresh charges
Meanwhile, the OSP has charged Dapaah for failing to comply with a directive from the office to declare her property and income.
The Office of the Special Prosecutor as part of investigations had demanded that Dapaah should declare her income and property.
Dapaah is a suspect under investigation for corruption and corruption-related offences including using public office for profit in respect of suspected “tainted large cash sums reportedly stolen from her residential premises.”
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has retrieved the said large cash from her residential premises.
According to the Office of the Special Prosecutor per a Charge Sheet signed by Kissi Agyebeng and filed on October 6, 2023, without lawful excuse, Cecilia Dapaah has failed, within thirty (30) days, to comply with a notice to declare her property and income served on her by the Special Prosecutor on July 24, 2023 under regulation 20(1) per Forms 1A and 1B of the First Schedule of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374) as specified in regulation 20(2) and Form 21 of the First Schedule of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374).
The OSP has thus charged the former minister with one count of failing to comply with a lawful demand of an authorised officer of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in the performance of his functions, contrary to section 69(1)(a) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
Read the full charge sheet below
COUNT ONESTATEMENT OF OFFENCE
FAILING TO COMPLY WITH A LAWFUL DEMAND OF AN AUTHORISED OFFICER OF THE OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NI THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS FUNCTIONS, contrary to section 69(1) (a) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017 (Act 959).
PARTICULARS OF OFFENCE
CECILIA ABENA DAPAAH, 68 years, circa 25 August 2023 in Accra in the Greater Accra Region of the Republic of Ghana and within the jurisdiction of this Court, being a suspect under investigation for corruption and corruption related offences including using public office for profit in respect of suspected tainted large cash sums reportedly stolen from your residential premises and also retrieved from same by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, without lawful excuse, failed, within thirty (30) days, to comply with a notice to declare your property and income served on you by the Special Prosecutor on 24 July 2023 under regulation 20(1) per Forms 1A and 1B of the First Schedule of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374) as specified in regulation 20(2) and Form 21 of the First Schedule of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374).
Dated at the Office of the Special Prosecutor, 6 Haile Selassie Avenue, South Ridge Accra this Sixth day of October 2023.
FACTS TO BE ADDUCED
The Accused was, until 22 July 2023, the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources.
She is a suspect under investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor for corruption and corruption-related offences including using public office for profit in respect of suspected tainted large cash sums reportedly stolen from her residential premises and also retrieved from same by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
The evidence will establish that on 24 July 2023, the Special Prosecutor, in the performance of his functions, served on the Accused a notice to declare her property and income under regulation 20(1) per Forms 11A and 11B of the First Schedule of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374).
The Accused was duly notified as per the statutory forms and by a cover letter under the seal of the Office of the Special Prosecutor and the seal and mark of the Special Prosecutor, that she was required by law to make the specified declarations and return same to the Office of the Special Prosecutor as per Form 12 of the First Schedule of L.I. 2374, within thirty (30) days of service on her of the notice.
As at the close of business on 5 October 2023, the Accused had willfully failed, without lawful excuse, to return the duly completed statutory forms to the Office of the Special Prosecutor, more than thirty (30) days after the service of the notice and forms on her.
The Accused has been duly charged with the offence on the Charge Sheet.
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