Private legal practitioner, Martin Luther Kpebu, has disclosed that the main victim standing trial for the stealing of Cecilia Dapaah’s money has asked for plea bargaining through her lawyers.
He says the law allows for that to happen, saying the development would grant the accused person, Patience Botwe, the opportunity to “come and give evidence against Cecilia Dapaah.”
According to him, the trajectory of the matter is making a nuisance of Ghana’s criminal justice system, saying the plea bargaining is seeking the A-G to rather allow the former Minister to provide the source of her funds before looking at the stealing bit.
Speaking on the KeyPoints on TV3 Saturday, March 15, 2025, Mr. Kpebu accused former Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, of masterminding Cecilia Dapaah’s evasion of trial.
“In simple terms, this whole criminal trial is a nuisance and abuse of our criminal justice system,” he said.
Kpebu questioned how “Cecilia Dapaah who cannot explain how she came by the money is prosecuting Patience Botwe.”
“You say your money is lost, you can’t explain how you got the money and you have the temerity, if not Godfred Dame, who would mount such [a case]? he asked further.
The lawyer explained further that the plea bargaining is asking the Attorney-General to quash the trial of the accused persons, and rather demand that Cecilia Dapaah comes to prove the source of her funds.
“They are saying effectively that the Attorney-General, Dr. Ayine, should discontinue the trial, and rather have Cecilia Dapaah prosecuted because Patience Botwe is saying that I don’t need to answer any question. Cecilia Dapaah rather should be answering where she got those millions of dollars and Ghana cedis and gold and all those things from.”
“As far as we are aware, and it’s not been controverted, OSP’s investigations show that Cecilia Dapaah can’t explain the source of the money,” added Kpebu.
Abena Dapaah, a former Minister under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration, became a subject of investigation when huge sums of monies were discovered in her house.
The matter became public after she reported her house help of stealing a whooping GHC1 million from her home, together with other foreign currencies and valuable items worth hundreds of thousands of cedis belonging to her and her husband.
She was charged with money laundering but was found not guilty after the then Attorney-General and Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) failed to establish the allegations with evidence, following a probe by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Meanwhile, Martin Kpebu says the law was not properly interpreted and has gone back to court for proper interpretation.
Kpebu and co drag EOCO & A-G to court over Cecilia Dapaah’s alleged money scandal
