Embattled former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah has filed an injunction application against the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for prosecuting her until its freeze of her accounts and cash seizure case is determined.
Per the court documents filed today, Tuesday, October 10, the lawyers say if the OSP is not retrained, the accused will suffer irreparable damage.
They have asked the court to balance her rights against the state’s power to fight corruption.
“This Court is enjoined to balance the economic right of the affected persons against the State’s power to fight corruption.”
“It is the Applicants’ considered view that they would suffer irreparable harm if the Respondent is not restrained pending the final determination of the substantive matter.”
The former minister has also refuted allegations by the Office of the Special Prosecutor that she has an undeclared real estate business.
According to her, the OSP has not provided any evidence of that claim.
The court document filed by the Office of the Special Prosecutor said Cecilia Abena Dapaah “was engaged in undisclosed and undeclared real estate business in which she obscured and concealed the transactions by employing the use of aliases to avoid detection of the actual ownership of the business and properties, while cleverly receiving proceeds of the transactions in her bank account and investments.”
This is part of OSP’s attempt to confirm the seizure of suspected tainted properties belonging to Madam Dapaah.
Meanwhile, OSP has also failed to declare her income and property.
According to the statement of offence filed at the High Court on Friday, October 6, Cecilia Dapaah failed to with a notice declare her property served on Monday, July 24 within 30 days as stated in the OSP Act.
The OSP says this is a contravention of the OSP Act and that she must be punished for it.
“Cecilia Abena Dapaah, 68 years, 25 August 2023, in Accra in the Greater Accra Region of the Republic of Ghana and within the jurisdiction of this Court, being a suspect under investigation for corruption and corruption-related offences including using public office for profit in respect of suspected tainted large cash sums reportedly stolen from your residential premises and also retrieved from same by the Office of the Special Prosecutor, without lawful excuse, failed, within 30 days, to comply with a notice to declare your property and income served on you by the Special Prosecutor on 24 July 2023 under regulation 20(1) per Forms 1A and 1B of the First Schedule of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374) as specified in regulation 20(2) and Form 21 of the First Schedule of the Ofice of the Special Prosecutor (Operations) Regulations, 2018 (L.I. 2374).”