Cecilia Dapaah Scandal: Special Prosecutor Petitions Chief Justice To Change Trial Judge

• The Office of the Special Prosecutor has petitioned the Chief Justice against the judge hearing the Cecilia Dapaah case
• The OSP has explained in a short statement posted on social media that the judge, Justice Edward Twum, is prejudiced against the OSP
• The OSP disclosed that until the judge is removed, he will no longer take part in ongoing proceedings

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) disclosed on Thursday, October 12, that it has petitioned Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to remove the judge hearing the Cecilia Dapaah case.

In a post on Facebook, the OSP said the pronouncements by the judge, Justice Edward Twum, have convinced him that the judge is prejudiced against the Office.

"...the OSP would not and cannot be reasonably expected to be parties to proceedings before the said judge," the short statement announced.

Read also

Gov’t faces backlash for alleged sale of library land for private construction of casino

The OSP specifically wants Justice Twum to recuse himself or be removed by the CJ from all its cases pending before him.

Meanwhile, the court on Wednesday, October 11, granted an application by lawyers for Cecilia Dapaah to move the hearing date for the confirmation of Dapaah's seized and frozen properties to a much earlier Thursday, October 12, rather than the initial October 18 date.

Cecilia Dapaah is being investigated for corruption and corruption-related offences following the finding of huge sums of money at her private residence.

Cecilia Dapaah's lawyers and OSP face off in court

YEN.com.gh reported earlier that fierce arguments from the legal representatives of Cecilia Dapaah and the OSP ensued in court on Wednesday over the seizure of Dapaah's cash and the freezing of her accounts.

Read also

Togbe Afede backs calls for review of Ghana’s constitution: “Our 1992 Constitution is not helping”

The lawyer for the former sanitation minister accused the OSP of bad faith for trying to scuttle efforts to get the court's ruling on the seized properties on time.

The OSP seized huge sums of money belonging to the ex-minister and froze her accounts in an ongoing corruption and corruption-related investigation.

The FBI has been working with the OSP to probe the former sanitation minister.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor is collaborating with the FBI to probe Dapaah’s transactions in the US.

Dapaah lost $1 million, €300,000 and an undisclosed amount of Ghana cedis said to have been stolen by her house helps.

During a hearing on Wednesday, Dapaah and her lawyer confronted anti-corruption campaigner and lawyer, Martin Kpebu.

Dapaah was reportedly unhappy with some of Kpebu's comments about her corruption scandal Dapaah's lawyer, Victoria Barth, also reportedly had a heated confrontation with Kpebu after the court hearing.

Source: YEN.com.gh