The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has resigned from her position with immediate effect.
In a resignation letter dated, Saturday, July 22, 2023 and addressed to the President, she wrote:
”I write to inform you that I wish to resign from my position as Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources.
“It has been a great privilege and honour for me to have been given the opportunity to serve in your government and an even greater honour to have worked to try and bring your great vision for our country to fruition.
“Since yesterday, Friday, July 21, 2023, social and traditional media have been full of stories about a court case involving a theft that took place last year in the home I live with my husband and daughter. The stories sought to suggest that I own various huge sums of foreign currencies and millions of Ghana cedis which have been stolen from my home.
“Whereas I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the Police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position.
“I am resigning therefore because I do not want this matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government at such a crucial time.
”I intend to cooperate fully with all state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts, I have no doubt whatsoever that at the end of the processes, it will be fully established that I have conducted myself with integrity during my period in public service and I will be fully exonerated from all the allegations that have filled the public domain in the past 24 hours.
Earlier in a press statement, Mrs Dapaah indicated there were inconsistencies in the complaint and what had been reported in the public domain from the charge sheet and court proceedings.
“There are noticeable inconsistencies between what is being discussed in the public domain and the thrust of the original complaint on the matter,” the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has stated in response to media reports on money stolen from her residence.
”There are noticeable inconsistencies between what is being discussed in the public domain and the thrust of the original complaint on the matter.”
“I am taking steps to examine the origins of the inconsistencies and will provide a detailed response in the coming days,” Mrs Dapaah said in a press statement dated July 21, in reaction to media reports on the theft.
Two house helps working for the Minister and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour are facing charges at an Accra Circuit Court, for allegedly stealing monies and items worth millions of cedis from the couple’s residence at Abelemkpe in Accra. The accused are 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei.
They allegedly stole personal effects belonging to the minister including assorted clothes valued at GH¢95,000, handbags, perfumes, and jewellery worth US$95,000. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and five counts of stealing. The alleged thefts occurred between July and October 2022.
Patience Botwe has also been accused of stealing six pieces of Kente cloth worth GH¢90,000 and six sets of men’s suits valued at US$3,000, which belong to the minister’s husband.
Furthermore, three other individuals, identified as Ms. Botwe’s current and former boyfriends and her father, are also facing charges for allegedly being involved in the crime. They have been respectively charged with dishonestly receiving GH¢1 million, GH¢180,000, and GH¢50,000.
