“I disagree with court order to return Cecilia Dapaah’ seized money – Kissi Agyebeng fumes

Kissi Agyebeng, the Special Prosecutor, says he disagrees with a court order for his office to return Cecilia Dapaah’s seized money.

On Thursday, the high court in Accra presided over by Justice Edward Twum ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to return all monies seized from the former sanitation and water resources minister back to her within the next seven days from the date of the ruling.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor on Thursday 17 August, prayed the court to confirm its order freezing two accounts belonging to Dapaah on suspicion that the monies in the accounts may be tainted property. The OSP was also praying the court to confirm its decision to seize some sums of money it discovered after searching the former minister’s residence. The monies discovered were US$590,000.00 and GHC2,730,000.00.

By court

Justice Twum’s court in its ruling on 31 August 2023, held that it finds no reasonable ground for which the applicant, Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), froze the bank accounts of the respondent (Cecilia Dapaah).

The court further held that the freezing of the accounts was done without any legal basis and the court in the interest of fairness, cannot confirm the freezing of those accounts as it was not done fairly.

I disagree – SP

Responding to the ruling, Agyebeng said his office respects the order but disagrees with it because it is erroneous.

“While the OSP respects the court’s decision, it disagrees with the decision of the court. First, the OSP believes that the court’s computation of the time limitation is, with respect, erroneous,” Agyebeng said.

Below is the full statement

Credit: Asaaserad