Nana Ohene Ntow, a former stalwart of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has blamed President Akufo-Addo for how the Cecilia Dapaah matter has turned following his letter which projected vindication for the former Minister before investigations into her matter began.
He has described the President’s statement on the scandal as political, expressing how it has thwarted the entire investigations into it.
After her resignation as Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources following her missing cash scandal, President Akufo-Addo in the resignation acceptance letter disclosed that he was confident she was going to be exonerated.
“I am confident, like you, that, at the end of the day, your integrity, whilst in office, will be fully established. I wish you the very best in all your endeavours,” the President said in his letter.
The statement, is what Nana Ohene Ntow says has compromised the matter.
“With that statement, I think it was unfortunate, and it may have even influenced, even the Attorney-General. The Attorney General was appointed by the President. So once you get a sense of where the President wants this matter to drift, if you don’t have the kind of courage that some of us have, you can’t go too far.
“So, the President himself has not helped this matter. Before you get it, don’t doubt with the politics of it, because what he said was not legal. It was political. The President himself politicised this matter from day one, before even the lawyers come in, before the investigators come in. He had cast a shadow over the issue,” he said on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, May 04, 2024.
His comments stem from the Attorney-General’s advice to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) against conducting investigation into the money laundering aspect of the scandal.
The matter was referred to the EOCO by the Office of the Special Prosecutor who said its mandate was limited with regards to investigating money laundering.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s Office has noted that it has not closed investigations on the matter since the police are still probing it.
Cecilia Dapaah saga: ‘Attorney-General’s advice to EOCO does not put matter to bed’ – GII
