A senior lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration’s (GIMPA) Faculty of Law says the different issues in the case involving the former Sanitation Minister must be separated.
Dr Justice Srem-Sai noted that presently the focus of the police investigation is the theft incident in Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s house but not the source of the money that was stolen.
He emphasised that it is important for Ghanaians to understand that the theft incident and the source of the money were different cases and needed to be separated.
Speaking on Joy News’ Newsfile on Saturday, he said, “At this point what the police are doing is you say that someone owns a property, another person takes it and now we are investigating stealing.
“Let’s not confuse the issues. At this point, the police are investigating stealing against some different people. They are not into the question of where did the complainant get the money from.
“…That’s what I keep saying that we need to separate the issues. At this point, you know the offence of stealing, you actually don’t need to find out who the owner of the money is.”
He noted, however, that the police would only investigate the source of the money when they or another organisation took up the matter and began investigating the minister’s funds.
Dr Srem-Sai stressed that it is imperative for the nation to decide and explicitly indicate whether public officials and politicians would be subjected to extreme criminal standards or to governance.
This, he explained, will make it easier to deal with cases similar to the Cecilia Dapaah saga as well as other purported cases of corruption involving public officers and political leaders when they come to light.
The law lecturer also dared the former Sanitation Minister to disclose to Ghanaians how much was stolen from her.
Dr Justice Srem-Sai said until Cecilia Abena Dapaah does that, she cannot allege inconsistencies in the figures the police have reported.
According to the Managing Partner of Praetorium Solicitors, the police have conducted a thorough investigation into the matter.
“On the scale of who is more likely to be right with regards to the amounts involved, I think the police are more likely to be right because the police have spoken to a number and the extent to which they have gone with this investigation.
“I think every fair-minded person should be able to come to this basis conclusion that it is possible that the police have no information on the tracing of the money and whatever happened more than the complainant herself.”
“In any case, I’ve listened to all the discussions and read all the press releases not for once has the complainant herself come out with how much she thinks she has.
“So if you’re saying what the police is saying is not correct, you need to tell us what or how much was stolen from you. So it is not enough to just say what the police are saying is not correct,” he said.
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