Trial of Cecilia Dapaah’s maids: Ex-Minister’s husband gives court detail of monies stolen
Daniel Osei Kuffuor, the husband of former sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah has given breakdowns of monies stolen from their storeroom by their house to help Patience Botwe and six others.
The 85-year-old Professional Architect with 53 years of experience said the accused persons stole two sets of $210, 000 and $200, 000 from their storeroom.
In addition to the dollars, he said another set of £300,000 belonging to him and GHc300,000 being contributions that Cecilia Dapaah’s siblings made towards the funeral of her late mother were also stolen.
Patience Botwe, 18, and Sarah Agyei, 30, together with Benjamin Sowah, Malik Dauda, Christiana Achab, Job Pomary, and Yahaya Sumaila have all denied the various charges pressed against them – ranging from Conspiracy to steal, stealing, dishonestly receiving, and money laundering.
Despite being granted bail, they have not been able to meet their respective bail conditions and are still in lawful custody.
In Court on Friday, May 3, 2024, when the trial officially began with Daniel Osei Kuffuor – husband of Madam Cecilia Dapaah testifying as the First Prosecution Witness, he said after he found Patience Botwe in their room, they later realized their valuables have been stolen.
While being led by Christabel Selma Anafure, Assistant State Attorney to give his Evidence-in-Chief, Mr Kuffuor said, the monies stolen were in different currencies.
“Subsequently, my wife and I found out that some of our valuables as well as huge sums of monies had been stolen from the storeroom.
“This included an amount of 210,000 US Dollars which belonged to my wife’s deceased brother, Nana Akwasi Essan II alias Charles Dapaah,” he said.
Other monies he said were stolen from their storeroom were: “Two Hundred Thousand US Dollars ($200,000 USD) belonging to Dorcas Wiredua, my niece who is also my client.
“Three Hundred Thousand Euros (£300,000) belonging to me,” and “Three Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc300,000) being contributions that my wife’s siblings and she made towards the funeral of her late mother.
“Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc50,000) belonging to my wife,” he stated.
The Witness also told the Court that, “after my wife and I noticed our belongings and monies were missing, we tried to get the 1st accused (Patience Botwe) to return the stolen items because of the relationship we have with Malik Dauda, the 4th accused person.
Shared monies
He, however, said, after some time, “we noticed that the 1st accused person (Patience Botwe) was determined not to return the monies.”
The husband of the former sanitation minister also told the Court that, “the police had informed us that their investigations had revealed that our monies had been shared to different persons including the accused persons herein.”
“The police initially arraigned the 1st accused person before the court and she was granted bail, however, we were later informed that she jumped bail.
“Somewhere in 2023, we were informed by the police that the 1st accused person and the 3rd accused person (Benjamin Sowah) had been arrested at their hideout in Tamale.
Missing $95k jewelry
The Witness also told the Court, “My wife did a stock-taking and informed me that she found out that her jewelry that she had purchased within a period of thirty-five (35) years valued at Ninety-Five Thousand
United States Dollars ($95,000USD) were also missing.”
Maid, not a resident in our house
Mr. Kuffour told the Court that, they employed the 1st accused, Patience Botwe to work as a house help in their house in July 2022.
He said they got to know the 1st accused person through Malik Dauda (4th Accused) whom he had known for about 20 years.
“The 4th accused person worked at my office car park as an errand boy and happens to be the father of the 1st accused person’s child.
“The duty of the 1st accused person as instructed by my wife was to come to the house twice a week to clean the compound,” he said, adding, “She was not resident in the house.”
Fateful day
The Witness told the Court that, on October 6, 2022, he left the house with his driver around 7:30 am to Akyim Oda for a family meeting.
According to him, “We drove to Dome to pick up my lawyer who was to go with me to Akyim Oda, however when we reached his house, he advised me to postpone the trip.”
“Based on this advice, I returned to my house to change my clothes and head to the office.
“When I entered the house, I realized that the lights in the bedroom corridor which I had earlier switched off, were on and I further heard unusual noises which got me alarmed because I suspected that there was an intruder in the house.
“I realized that the door to the kitchen was opened, so I entered the kitchen but there was no one there,” he told the Court.
“I then went to our bedroom and saw that the door was opened with a strange key which had been left in the keyhole.
“I entered but I did not see anyone in the master bedroom. I also realized that the storeroom (our third bedroom used for storage) was opened,” he told the Court.
“Before entering the storeroom, I realized that the storeroom was opened with the original key which had always been safely kept in the master bedroom. I entered the storeroom and there I saw the 1st accused person hiding behind the door,” Mr. Kuffuor said.
Arrest
He told the Court that, when he asked her what she was doing in their storeroom, she failed to give him any reason.
He said he marched her out of the storeroom, and while in the corridor she escaped.
“I immediately drew the attention of my driver, Raymond Ashi, who finally found her hiding in the toilet of the Boys Quarters.
“So, with the assistance of the policeman on duty, we took her to the Tesano Police station.
“When I returned home from the police station, I noticed that the storeroom had been ransacked,” he told the Court.
Following the conclusion of his Evidence-in-Chief, defense lawyers have started their cross-examination of him.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, who was in Court reports that the Court has refused a request from Benjamin Sowah and Malik Dauda (3rd and 4th) for bail variation.
The Court presided over by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons has adjourned the case to May 15 for further cross-examination.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
