The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a High Court decision granting an expedited hearing for the seizure and freezing of the bank accounts belonging to Cecilia Abena Dapaah, a former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources. The OSP seeks a review of this decision through a certiorari, which is a superior court order requesting a lower court’s proceedings for examination.
Consequently, the OSP has also filed an application at the High Court to halt the ongoing proceedings until the Supreme Court’s final determination is reached. Dr. Isidore Tuffuor, representing the OSP, notified the court about this recent application.
Originally, the High Court, led by Justice Edward Twum, was scheduled to hear Ms. Dapaah’s case on October 12, where she faced accusations of not declaring her assets during her tenure as a minister. A second attempt by the OSP to freeze her assets and accounts was also on the docket for that day. However, the OSP submitted a request to Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo to have Justice Twum recused from their cases, including the one involving the former minister.
In a surprising turn of events, Justice Twum initially confirmed that the OSP had withdrawn their petition but later clarified that it was still pending. This led to allegations of a deliberate delay tactic by Ms. Dapaah’s lawyers. They accused the OSP of orchestrating a plan to evade the hearing of their own application, which they argued infringed on Ms. Dapaah’s economic rights.
In response, Dr. Tuffuor strongly refuted these claims, viewing them as an attack on the Special Prosecutor’s integrity. Justice Twum adjourned the case to October 25 for the motion for a stay of proceedings to be heard.
This legal dispute stemmed from the OSP’s motion to freeze Ms. Dapaah’s accounts, which was dismissed by Justice Twum on August 31. The court believed that the OSP lacked a legal basis to continue the account seizures and raised questions about the ownership of the alleged tainted property found in Ms. Dapaah’s house, as well as its connection to any criminal activity.
Notably, Ms. Dapaah’s request for an abridgment of time to hear the OSP’s motion to freeze her accounts earlier than originally scheduled was granted by Justice Twum. This decision was based on the belief that Ms. Dapaah would suffer greater hardship if the application’s determination took a long time. The OSP is now seeking to have this ruling quashed by the Supreme Court.
The OSP initiated an investigation into Ms. Dapaah for corruption and related offenses in July, prompted by the discovery of over $1 million in her house. This followed the arraignment of two househelps of Ms. Dapaah and her husband for alleged theft from their residence in Abelemkpe, Accra.