Cecilia Dapaah, Ghana’s former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, has been arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in connection with an alleged theft of $1 million (£780,000) in cash from her residence.
The OSP placed the former minister under house arrest on Sunday, July 22, on suspicion of involvement in corruption and corruption-related offenses.
The arrest of Cecilia Dapaah has now raised eyebrows among Ghanaians and anti-corruption campaigners, as they question how a public servant could possess such a significant amount of money at her home, especially during an economic crisis in Ghana.
In response to the situation, authorised officers of the OSP are currently questioning Ms. Dapaah, as stated in the official statement released on Monday.
President Nana Akufo-Addo accepted the resignation of Cecilia Dapaah on Saturday, a decision made following public outcry surrounding the scandal. In her statement on Saturday, Dapaah handed in her resignation, saying she did not want to be a hindrance to the government, but rejected reports of such large amounts of cash at the family home.
“I am resigning therefore because I do not want this matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government,” Dapaah said.
Local media reports suggest that the cash was discovered when two of her domestic staff members were accused of stealing $1 million, €300,000, and several million Ghana cedis, along with some personal belongings.
In response to the allegations, Cecilia Dapaah has addressed the issue, stating, “I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position.”
“I intend to cooperate fully with all state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts,” she added.
The situation continues to unfold, and the authorities are actively investigating the matter to ascertain the truth behind the alleged cash scandal involving the former minister.