A new twist in the pending case of the theft of some huge sums of money from the residence of the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah, has emerged.
In a report put together by myjoyonline.com that detailed how the police failed to inform the Attorney General about the initial case the former minister filed against one of her house helps at the Juvenile Court, it has emerged that a Ghana Card threw the case out in an unexpected way.
According to the details, the case of what happened in the house of the minister first went to court in 2022.
From being caught to appearing in court:
The first case, the report added, was filed multiple times at the Juvenile Court and then at the Circuit Court.
However, some further interesting details emerged about how the case unfolded.
On October 4, 2022, Cecilia Dapaah is said to have issued a warning to one of her domestic staff not to enter any room in the house while working there, but she did not heed her warning.
Two days later, on October 6, 2022, this domestic worker is reported to have managed to enter one of the rooms, but she was caught by the husband of the former minister, Daniel Osei Kuffour, when he returned to the house unannounced from a scheduled trip that had been cancelled.
The domestic staff was then handed over to the Tesano Police Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit after a complaint was filed against her.
During the period, Cecilia Dapaah was out of town, reportedly, and on her return on October 10, she decided to undertake her own analysis of the room in which the domestic worker was caught.
In her search, she found that two new kente cloths, an uncountable number of women’s cloths, an unspecified amount of money, and jewelry were missing from the room.
The domestic staff then gave her statement to the police, after which charges were filed against her, and she was taken to the Circuit Court on October 26, 2022.
Age determination and Ghana Card factor:
At the Circuit Court, the age of the domestic staff was determined, and it was realized that she could, in estimation, be between 18 and 21 years old.
On that score, she was remanded and asked to appear in court on November 16, 2022, but things took an unexpected turn when the case was re-heard on that day.
The report indicated that on November 16, the lawyers for the domestic worker presented her Ghana Card to the Circuit Court, which showed that she was only 17 years at the time.
Left with no other option, the court was forced to discharge her, which resulted in a re-arrest and fresh charges being filed at the Juvenile Court.
The case was only sent back to the Circuit Court in 2023 when this suspect had attained the age of 18.
It is worth mentioning that during the period the case was at the Juvenile Court and the Circuit Court in 2022, there was no mention of any missing $1 million, suits and other cedi amounts as stated in court documents filed against the same suspect and four others in July 2023.
Also, the police only limited her charges to unlawful entry and being on a premises for unlawful purposes, instead of a stealing charge.
Source: ghanaweb.com
