Former Deputy Attorney General and former MP for Tempani, Joseph Kpemka, has called on Ghanaians to refrain from pre-judging the former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, before her trial begins.
Various groups have raised concerns regarding the source and intended use of funds, including US$1 million, €300,000, and unspecified amounts in Ghanaian cedis stolen from the minister’s house.
Reports went viral about two house helps who were taken to court for allegedly stealing $1 million dollars, 300,000 Euros, several millions of Ghana cedis, and other personal effects from the residence of Ms. Dapaah and her husband.
Following the incident, Madam Dapaah was arrested by the Special Prosecutor, and two residential properties of the former minister were searched. She was later granted bail.
During an interview on the Big Issue on Citi TV, hosted by Selorm Adonoo, the former deputy attorney stressed that the stolen US$1 million and €300,000, which belong to the former minister, “could be legitimately earned income”.
Kpemka emphasized the potential implications of public commentary on Madam Cecilia Dapaah’s scandal, which could potentially jeopardize the ongoing investigation process.
The private legal practitioner clarified that the former minister did not commit any crime by keeping money in her house, urging for a fair and unbiased trial process.
“I urge all of us in our commentary not to hang the person [Cecilia Dapaah] before she’s heard. Let the processes go through. In the end, if guilt is established, we can better comment on the person’s character and integrity. It can prejudice the process, let’s allow due process to run. We should be cautious and careful in putting her in public court. She has not committed any offence by keeping money in her house.
“For now, it can be a legitimately earned income. We heard the story that she’s a hotelier, she’s a deputy minister under former president J.A. Kufuor, and she has been a minister under this government on two occasions, she does other businesses and all that. Let’s wait to hear what will come out of the investigations,” Mr Kpemka suggested.
The former MP proposed some forms of legislation to criminalise the hoarding of huge sums of monies in people’s homes.
“When the issue came up and people started talking about it, I said the mere fact that you are keeping trillions of dollars on your house, will not constitute an offence. Because there’s no law in our books that would have been flouted. As a people, if we think that those occurrences are becoming one too many, and a conduit through which people perpetrate crime…then that means there’s a lacuna in our law.
“If we are discovering cash in quantities in people’s houses that are frightening, and we don’t want that to happen, legislation is the way to go. Go to parliament and legislate that if huge sums of money are found, the person is liable,” he recommended.
