Former President John Dramani Mahama has questioned why a minister of state in the Akufo-Addo government would have millions of cedis and other foreign currencies in her house.
In a tweet, Mr Mahama said the act was ‘scandalous’ and was not a good conduct for public office holders.
This follows the alleged stealing of over one million dollars, €300,000 and several millions of Ghana Cedis from the house of the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah and her husband by her house helps.
Two house helps of the minister are currently being prosecuted before an Accra Circuit Court over the incident.
“$1m + €300k and millions of GHS in a Ghanaian Minister’s home? Scandalous!! Even if genuinely acquired, why keep millions of hard currency at home? Will @NAkufoAddo [President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] ever set a good example for public office holders in his administration?” Mahama posted on his Twitter handle.
Sack her now
Meanwhile, Some Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) say it was unlawful for Cecilia Dapaah, to have kept such an amount of money in her house.
The Member of Parliament for Bole Bamboi, Yussif Sulemana, said in a Citi News interview that he expects President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to immediately sack the Minister while investigations commence into the legitimacy of the money.
“I expect the President to fire her if it’s true that she kept that huge sum of money in her house. The question is where did she get the money? If indeed that money was legitimate, why did she put it in her house instead of the bank? If it is indeed established that this woman was keeping such sums of money, the first thing is for the President to sack her. That’s the only way we would know that the President is fighting corruption. The President must act and act immediately. The next stage is that any state institution interested in investigating her could do so freely,” Mr. Sulemana added.
The NDC MP for the Kumbungu constituency, Hamza Adam, also speaking to Citi News, said it would be shocking if it is indeed established that the said monies were kept in the house of the Minister.
“Every minister of state has the right to own properties provided those properties are owned on the back of legitimacy. The issue surrounding Cecilia Dapaah is something that has come up as a shock, especially when everyone knows that the country is in a crisis. It will be surprising if indeed such monies were kept by her in her house. We have to establish the truth of the matter.”
“We are expecting the proper legal action to be taken and an investigation triggered to establish where she got the money from. I think it is illegal to keep such money in your house,” the Kumbungu MP added.
