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Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, has been arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

This was confirmed in a statement signed by the Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyebeng dated July 24, 2023.

This follows a court case in which two house helps and others are standing trial for allegedly stealing $1 million, €300,000 and millions of cedis from her Ablekuma residence.

Two of her house helps, Patience Botwe (18) and Sarah Agyei (30), were previously charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and five counts of stealing, following the alleged incidents between July and October 2022.

During this period, items including assorted clothes worth GHC95,000, handbags, perfumes, and jewelry valued at $95,000 were said to have been stolen from the former Minister's residence in the Abelemkpe area of Accra. Patience Botwe was also accused of stealing six sets of kente cloth worth GHC90,000 and six sets of men's suits valued at $3,000, which belonged to Ms. Dapaah's husband. Furthermore, three other individuals, including Botwe's current and former boyfriends and her father, are also facing charges for allegedly being involved in dishonestly receiving GHC1 million, GHC180,000, and GHC50,000, respectively.

OSP Arrest

According to the statement from the OSP, “At 11:55 GMT on 24 July 2023, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who resigned from the position of Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources on 22 July 2023, was placed under arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money and other valuable items reportedly stolen from her residence".

“Ms. Dapaah is being questioned by authorised Officers of the OSP.”

Below is the statement