Cecilia Dapaah Scandal: ASEPA Doubts Efficacy of Possible Probe As Pressure Mounts On Akufo-Addo To Crack Whip

• The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) has joined calls for a probe into the former sanitation minister, Cecilia Dapaah
• The civil society organisation said it did not expect the Akufo-Addo administration to oversee a fair probe into the matter
• Dapaah resigned after news emerged that she was allegedly robbed of massive amounts of money from her home

The Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) is sceptical about calls for a probe into the former sanitation minister, Cecilia Dapaah, who allegedly lost millions in cash from her home.

Mensah Thompson, the Executive Director of ASEPA, did not mince words, saying he does not expect a probe being overseen by the Akufo-Addo administration to be credible.

Thompson feels the trend of politicians being accused of corruption and getting cleared by government probes under President Akufo-Addo will continue.

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"There is no hope in this matter. Nothing is going to happen and we are not going to do anything. There is nothing that is going to happen because the trend has always been there.

"Unless it is not Akufo-Addo who is the president. If it is Akufo-Addo who is the President, trust me, nothing is going to happen," he said to YEN.com.gh.

Thompson said the allegations, which eventually caused Dapaah to resign, were very concerning.

The monies listed as having been stolen are $1 million and €300,000, the equivalent of which is millions of Ghana cedis.

Because Dapaah was a public official, Thompson told YEN.com.gh that there was a basis for the special prosecutor to enter the fray.

“The office of the special prosecutor has enough powers to pursue what we call, a lifestyle audit,” he said.

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Thompson however urged caution with commentary on the matter until the full facts in the case are established.

Since the incident hit news headlines over the weekend, there have been calls for the Akufo-Addo administration to probe the issue.

NPP communicators like Solomon Nkansah want the president to probe the scandal since it is a big blow to his administration.

Court case following theft

In all, five persons are standing trial at a circuit court in Accra following the theft of the monies from the minister.

The two main suspects are her current and former house help; 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei, respectively.

In addition to the two main suspects, Benjamin, a 29-year-old plumber, Kweku Botwe, aged 65 years and Malik Dauda, 23, are being prosecuted.

Criticisms of minister

The minister has faced a lot of criticisms online from Ghanaians, as well as allegations of corruption.

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"This is scandalous": Mahama drags Akufo-Addo into stolen $1m, €300k from minister's home

Former President John Mahama described the situation as scandalous because of the amount of money that went missing from the minister's home.

The last time Dapaah courted this much controversy, it was after she berated a young journalist sent to interview her.

Source: YEN.com.gh