Legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has strongly urged the resignation of the Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, citing mishandling in the investigation of former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah.
Mr Kpebu criticized EOCO’s absence during the return of funds to Dapaah by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), suggesting negligence or mismanagement on EOCO’s part.
He pointed out the conspicuousness of EOCO’s absence considering the OSP’s public announcement of returning the money and transferring the case file to EOCO.
The call for resignation stems from advice received from the Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, advising against EOCO initiating a money laundering probe into Dapaah’s case.
The Attorney General’s office highlighted shortcomings in the collaborative investigation report between the OSP and the FBI not being submitted to EOCO, and EOCO’s unanswered request for findings from its investigation.
The Attorney General’s office noted that the docket provided to EOCO lacked comprehensive details, containing only the OSP’s transmittal letter, the diary of action, statements from the investigation, and correspondence with other institutions.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, Kpebu argued that such oversights undermine the investigation’s credibility and raise doubts about EOCO’s ability and commitment to pursuing the case. He emphasized the gravity of the situation, insisting that Maame Tiwaa should resign without excuses.
Echoing Kpebu’s sentiments, anti-corruption advocate Vitus Azeem expressed disappointment with the Attorney General’s advice to EOCO. He argued that the case should not have necessitated the Attorney General’s intervention and criticized the Special Prosecutor for not providing EOCO with all the necessary information, which was used as a basis to deem further investigation unwarranted. Azeem suggested that withholding information could imply either a subpar investigation or an unwillingness to allow EOCO to continue the case with the available evidence, a common issue in high-profile investigations involving multiple agencies.
“EOCO’s Maame Tiwaa Addo Danquah should be on her way out of that office…she should be out and let us not play with it. This thing is too elementary for us to tolerate this. Kissi Agyebeng came out publicly to say ‘I am handing over this file, I am handing over the cash.’
“So EOCO should have been present to collect that money. There can be no excuses…there can be no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ about it, that is why we are calling on Maame Tiwaa to resign,” he stated.