On Monday, July 24, 2023, Mrs. Cecilia Dapaah, the former Ghanaian Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, was arrested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor in connection with an alleged theft of a significant amount of money and personal belongings by her two housemaids at her residence in Accra.
According to a public statement, Minister Dapaah, who resigned from her position on July 22, 2023, was arrested by the Office of the Prosecutor due to suspicions of corruption and corruption-related offenses regarding large sums of money and other valuable items stolen from her residence.
Prior to the arrest, the Office of the Special Prosecutor revealed that they received numerous calls requesting an immediate investigation into the theft of a significant amount of money from the former minister’s premises. Furthermore, it was disclosed on Friday, July 21, that two of the former minister’s housemaids were being prosecuted for stealing the sum of 1 million dollars, 300,000 euros, and millions of Ghanaian cedis from her residence in Abelenkpe, Accra, between June and October 2022.
The two housemaids, Patience Botwe, 18 years old, and Sarah Agyei, 30 years old, are charged with criminal conspiracy and five counts of theft. Three other individuals are also charged with dishonestly receiving 1 million Ghanaian cedis, 180,000 Ghanaian cedis, and 50,000 Ghanaian cedis.
It is worth noting that the scandal comes at a time when the country is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, prompting the government to seek a three billion loan from the IMF.
