A law lecturer, Dr. Justice Srem-Sai, has said that in the investigation of the significant amount of cash stolen from the former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s bedroom, it is not necessary for the police to know whether the money came from her deceased relatives or funeral donations.
Their primary duty was to probe the alleged crime of theft and not the origin of the money taken.
Dr. Srem-Sai explained that as the money was found in the possession of the Minister, it was reasonable for the police to infer that she was the owner of the money at that particular time.
He emphasized that the police acted appropriately by disclosing the information about the stolen money without delving into how the Minister might have acquired such a substantial amount.
“Now as to whether what she is saying – that the money has been transferred or transmitted to her – that will not even matter in the job of the police; what they are doing.
“It won’t matter because the police are not investigating the source of the funding. At this point, what the police are doing is to say that, “look someone owns a property and another person takes it. It’s stealing.”
Let’s avoid any confusion. Currently, the police are focused on investigating theft allegations involving several individuals. They are not concerned with the source of the money in question, as their primary objective is to resolve the theft cases.
“So there is nothing wrong with what the police have put on record. As far as they are concerned, the money was lawfully in the possession of her. There she is the owner at the time,” Dr Srem-Sai explained on Joy FM’s Newsfile programme Saturday, July 29, 2023.
The embattled former Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, raised concerns about the police releasing information with “noticeable inconsistencies” regarding the amount of cash involved in the case. However, she has not provided her own account of the exact amount lost. In this situation, Dr. Srem-Sai has asserted that the police cannot be blamed for any discrepancies since they were not provided with an accurate figure from the complainant.