The High Court in Accra has ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to provide investigation caution statements and charge statements obtained from former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah and her husband to the court.
The order, issued by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, stipulates that the OSP must comply within a week of being served.
This ruling came in response to an application filed by the lawyers of Patience Botwe, the first of seven individuals on trial for allegedly stealing money belonging to Cecilia Dapaah and her husband.
Patience Botwe, the 18-year-old former housemaid of Cecilia Abena Dapaah, filed a motion at the High Court on June 12, requesting all investigation documents related to the case.
Daniel Osei Kufuor, the husband of the former minister, is currently in the witness box undergoing cross-examination by the lawyers representing the accused.
Counsel for Patience Botwe argued that obtaining documents from the OSP would “enable us to effectively cross-examine” the former minister’s husband, Daniel Osei Kufuor.
The request includes the investigation caution statements, charge statements, interrogation transcripts, and interviews obtained during their arrest by the OSP. However, OSP prosecutors opposed the request for these documents.
In her ruling on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, Justice Simmons ordered that the investigation caution statements and charge statements must be provided within a week of service of the order. She instructed that the registrar serve a copy of the order to the OSP within that timeframe.
“The Special Prosecutor is to provide the investigation caution statements and charge statements of the first prosecution witness, Daniel Osei Kufuor, and Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and affect a copy to the first accused,” she stated.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reports that the court declined the request for interrogation transcripts and interviews obtained from the couple, partially granting the request.
Documents Sought
The affidavit supporting the motion requested that the OSP bring all investigation caution statements, interviews, and interrogations of Cecilia Dapaah and Daniel Osei Kufuor to the court, pursuant to Article 19(2)(e) and (g) and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court.
The first accused sought “an order directed at the Office of the Special Prosecutor to bring all investigation caution statements, interviews, and interrogations of Madam Cecilia Dapaah and Mr. Daniel Osei Kufuor to enable counsel for the first accused to cross-examine them on these matters.”
The basis for requesting these documents was that “Madam Cecilia Dapaah and Mr. Daniel Osei Kufuor were at the Office of the Special Prosecutor, where investigation caution statements were taken from them in respect of this matter.”
They also noted that the couple had been interviewed and interrogated regarding the alleged money, which they claimed the first accused had stolen from their property at Abelenkpe.
Additionally, the applicants argued that the OSP had publicly stated that Madam Cecilia Dapaah and Mr. Daniel Kufuor were unable to provide evidence proving that the amounts mentioned in their witness statements belonged to them.
They believe that the information held by the OSP would assist the first accused in her defense.
Charges
Patience Botwe, 18, and Sarah Agyei, 30, along with Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary, and Yahaya Sumaila, have all denied various charges, including conspiracy to steal, stealing, dishonestly receiving, and money laundering.
Despite being granted bail, they have not been able to meet the conditions and remain in lawful custody.
The former sanitation minister and her husband are both witnesses in the ongoing trial.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM
