The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has criticised the government's handling of the money laundering case involving former Minister of Sanitation, Cecilia Dapaah.

They argue that the Attorney General, Godfred Dame, advising the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) not to pursue the money laundering allegations against Cecilia is misguided.

The centre contends that this advice suggests the investigation may be concluded prematurely, without establishing facts or holding her accountable if she is found to be complicit.

“The upshot of the A-G’s Advice is that the Cecilia Dapaah matter is over. Case closed. Once again, a high-profile case of suspected or alleged criminal conduct implicating a politically influential person has been terminated abruptly without proper credible resolution or closure.

"It is not clear in what way the forced termination of further investigation into this matter by the A-G serves either the public interest or helps the reputation of the target of the investigation,” CDD Ghana said in a statement as quoted by citinewsroom.com.

The statement also criticised EOCO for not conducting its own investigation before seeking the Attorney General's opinion on the matter.

“The action of EOCO in requesting directions from the A-G without first acting on the referral from the OSP to initiate its own investigation of the matter seems oddly contrived. Having been provided with a docket containing various exhibits, statements by twenty or so individuals, as well as the bare fact of the quantum of the monies found in the properties associated with Dapaah and her spouse, one would have expected EOCO to proceed with its own investigations, instead of seeking the A-G’s legal advice on prosecution at that early pre-investigative stage,” the statement read.

Background

The Attorney General's office disclosed that the file provided to EOCO only included the OSP's letter forwarding the file, the action diary, statements from the investigation, and correspondence from the OSP to entities like the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and banks.

The Attorney General concluded that the OSP's request for EOCO to investigate Cecilia Dapaah's financial activities for money laundering was unwarranted.

SB/ ADG