Former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has strongly contested allegations made by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) regarding funds received from a bank account linked to her late brother.
In response to an affidavit filed by the OSP seeking confirmation of a new seizure of funds, Cecilia denied any implication that the monies and assets seized from her residence were of suspicious origin.
The OSP had informed the court that a bank account belonging to the late brother of the former minister was still active and had recently transmitted funds to her account, despite supposed inactivity.
Challenging this assertion, the former Minister clarified that the monies in question were transferred from an account specifically opened to collect funeral donations for her late brother, named ‘The Late Nana Akwasi Essan’, of which she is a signatory.
Additionally, she explained that the funds transferred to her bank account were intended for the payment of fees for her late brother’s children.
The former minister, through a sworn affidavit, emphasized a rather legitimate and non-suspicious nature of the transactions, refuting any allegations of financial impropriety.
In her affidavit, she explained that the said funds “were transferred from Cal Bank from an account in the name ‘The Late Nana Akwasi Essan’ to which I am a signatory adding that “this account was opened with funeral donations collected by Cal Bank at my late brothers funeral.”
“The correct account name is conspicuously stated in Applicant’s Exhibit OSP18 and the Applicant could easily have ascertained the mandate on the account from Cal Bank. The funds are transferred to me for payment of the school fees of my late brother’s children,” she added.