A New Judge Assumes Control of OSP and Cecila Dapaah Cases

Cecilia Dapaah

The Special Prosecutor's request for confirmation of the freezing and seizure of the properties of Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, has been taken over by a different judge.

However, the OSP's petition to the Chief Justice to have Justice Edward Twum removed from his position as case manager has nothing to do with the takeover.

Justice Twum, one of the 19 judges who presided throughout the legal vacation, proceeded on a two-month leave, which led to Justice Nana Brew's temporal takeover.

The OSP’s application seeking confirmation of seizure and freezing of assets as well as the case against Madam Dapaah for failing to declare her assets, were adjourned to December 22, 2023.

This was after Justice Brew had indicated that the court as at yesterday did not have the case docket.

The OSP arrested Madam Dapaah on July 24, 2023, on suspicion of corruption and corruption-related offences after she and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffuor reported huge sums of money was stolen from their home by their two house maids.

It then administratively froze the bank accounts of the former minister and filed an application before an Accra High Court seeking to confirm the $590,000 and GH¢2.86 million seized at her home as well as the freezing of the accounts pending further investigation into the true ownership and source of the monies.

An Accra High Court presided over by Justice Edward Twum, however, dismissed the application, indicating that based on the available facts before it, there was no justifiable basis for the authorised officers of the OSP to exercise the powers of seizure without a court warrant or order.


The OSP subsequently released the funds to Madam Dapaah and also lifted the freeze on the accounts, but later seized the money and again froze the accounts and subsequently filed another application seeking confirmation of the seizure and freeze.

In its latest appeal, the Office claims that its criminal intelligence indicates that Madam Dapaah may have hidden away substantial sums of cash in her home that were inexplicably higher than her salary as a Minister of State.

Alleging prejudice against the Office and Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, the OSP wrote to the Chief Justice throughout the case's pendency, pleading with her to remove Justice Twum from the case as well as any other case the Office was prosecuting.

Chief Justice Gertrude Torkorno denied the plea in a letter sent by Justice Cynthia Pamela Addo, the Judicial Secretary.