Some personalities who built ‘strong’ defence for Cecilia Dapaah
Cecilia Abena Dapaah who has resigned as Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources has for the past week come under intense criticism and public backlash after news of a theft case involving two of her domestic workers broke the internet.
According to reports, the accused individuals, 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei, are charged with conspiracy to commit a
Read full articlecrime and five counts of stealing. The alleged thefts occurred between July and October 2022.
During this period, the house helps allegedly stole personal effects belonging to Cecilia Abena Dapaah, including assorted clothes and monies allegedly valued over $1 million, which they kept at home.
Generally, the perception of the majority is that the monies kept at home by the former minister are proceeds of ill-gotten wealth. Despite this widely accepted narrative, they are a few public figures who believe Cecilia Dapaah has done nothing sinister. Here is a list of persons who have mounted a strong defence for Cecilia Dapaah.
Lawrence Kwesi Botchway Jnr
Lawrence Kwesi Botchway Jnr, a member of the NPP National Communications refuted all claims that Cecilia Dapaah had amassed her wealth from stealing from the state. According to him, the case has been blown out of proportion and that, about seventy per cent of the money belongs to the husband of the minister, who is a very successful architect and businessman.
“The money was not stolen on a day. The money was actually stolen in bits in 2019. All the money does not belong to Madam Cecilia Dapaah. About 70% of the money belongs to the husband of Mad. Dapaah, who is an accomplished business mogul,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Clement Wilkinson
During a discussion on Accra-based UTV and monitored by GhanaWeb on Saturday, July 22, 2023, about how Cecilia Dapaah came by such money, Clement Wilkinson, the Ga West Municipal Chief Executive Officer opined that the said stolen money US$1m, €300K, GH¢350k could have been funded from funeral donations.
“Someone was asking why she has such an amount of money in her room. You see, for about a year now, mama Cecilia Dapaah has lost two relatives; her big brother died and we went for the funeral as well as her mother,” he said.
“When my brother was speaking, he mentioned that she has gone to work for a company for 40-something million dollars and that the company has also taken 40-something million dollars. I really cannot tell but maybe at the funeral grounds, the company alone donated $2 million as their funeral contribution,” he added.
Mr.Logic
Entertainment pundit Mr Logic has defended Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, in the midst of the ongoing allegations of stolen monies from her home. Mr Logic criticized Ghanaians on the said issue for what he called hastily labelling the former minister as a thief and argued that the poverty-stricken mindset prevalent in the country tends to misconstrue luxury and wealth as ill-gotten gains.
"If someone wants to save his or her money at home, whether the money is for a project or family money or something, you don’t know, then all of a sudden, all of you are tagging her as a thief. Look, I posted that people should look for their own money and stop criticizing others' wealth, come and see insults on my page, I have to turn off the comment session. I have realized that in Ghana, the poverty mindset dominates, and people want to be poorer than to live a good life,” he said.
He added, “The woman is not a thief, it is her own money that people have stolen and she wanted to be honest because she is a public official so she has stepped down for investigations …I don’t see why people should think that it is outrageous for her to have that money, I see it just like George said, I see it like a bit myopic to think that way, and so please I don’t support those who are saying she stole the money".
Henry Kwabena Kokofu
Chief Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency and former Member of Parliament for Bantama, Dr. Lawyer Henry Kwabena Kokofu also came to the defence of Cecilia Dapaah.
According to him, it is absurd for Ghanaians to outrightly conclude that the former Sanitation Minister amassed her riches through embezzling state funds. He explained that Cecilia Dapaah is from a very wealthy family and as such it shouldn’t come as a surprise, she would possess that money.
“The mother of Cecilia Dapaah died only last year at the age of 90 or so, a Queen mother, who was so prominent in the court of the Asantehemaa. The mother was as wealthy as you can talk about, Cecilia Dapaah’s family are known to be wealthy. The point here is, inheritance also plays a role,” Dr. Kokofu explained in an engagement on Tv3.
The former minister resigned from her position on July 22, stating that she did not want the government to be burdened with her personal issues. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has accepted her resignation.
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