Council of State member, Sam Okudzeto has asserted that, former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah is not obligated to explain the source of the millions found in her home.
The former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) said no law bars people from keeping monies in their homes.
“If you come and you find money with me, do I owe you any duty to explain to you to whose money when nobody has complained that I have stolen his money?
You Ghanaians are not honest people, the number of people, all these huge buildings that they are building, who has asked them where they got the money from, nobody does,” he said in an interview on Accra-based TV3.
The legal practitioner said if anybody has evidence that Madam Dapaah stole the money, then a complaint must be made.
“So you just pick on one individual and you want to make it as if she was just an extraordinary rogue who has stolen money when you don’t even have any evidence that she has stolen money,” he stated.
Mr Okudzeto argued that Cecilia Dapaah cannot be convicted based on circumstantial evidence.
“Do the laws convict people on circumstantial evidence? When you go to the criminal court you must establish the issues beyond all reasonable doubt, that is what the criminal law says. The criminal law is not based upon suspicion or mere allegation,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Director of Programmes and Policy Engagement at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante has said Madam Dapaah must explain to Ghanaians the source of her wealth in contention.
He stated thatx, Cecilia Dapaah was a Minister at the time when the money was found in her house and that increased her responsibility to provide a clear and transparent explanation for the money to demonstrate that it was legitimately obtained.
Dr Asante believes the failure on the part of the former Minister to clarify matters and clear her name has partly led to the delay in getting to the bottom of the issue.
Source: adomonline.com
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Agya Koo, why are you disappointed in him? why?
I laugh at some of views of the writers on this platform. Truth is bitter and good old man Sam is 100% correct. I applaud him for his honest and very fair comment. If you have evidence that Cecilia Dapaa has stolen money, report her to police with evidence and this is simple.
Ghanaians are hypocrites, the luminary lawyer has hit the nail right. In 1994 the then chairman of NDC Dr Yao Obed Asamoah accused his bodyguards stealing 350 million Cedis from his house. At that time the dollar to Cedi was around 750 cedis. One of the culprits said it was his aggrieved girlfriend who showed them the money packed in unused deep freezers. NDC party and it ***barred word*** soldiers were quite. Let's be real, if we are to search every house in East Legon and the airport residential areas, the hard currencies we will get can cater for the needs of all Ghanaians.
Pathological Liar. This current Head of Economy Mgt team always deceive Ghanaians on their blind side. Revenue Collection is a function of sales. As nominal sales increases as a result of population and tariff increases ,Nominal Revenue collection increases historical. The data is there. 50kwh of power cost a customer Gh20 before mandatory payment platform was introduced. As a result of dragonian hike of tariffs, same 50kwh is selling over gh50. More than 150% hike. THE VICE SHOULD TELL THE NATION DEBTOR POSITION OF ECG, DEBTOR SALES RATIO, REVENUE TO SALES RATIO and Net operational Profit/Loss for the said periods. Within the said period ECG COST OF OPERATION IE POWER PURCHASES COST IN CEDI VALUE HAS MORE THAN INCREASED BY MORE THAN 100%. THE QUESTION IS WHY IS ECG STRUGGLING TO PAY IPPS.
Who said old age is synonymous to wisdom must be arrested pure rubbbbbbbish from a septugenerian.
With such ediiots advising the president why won't the country be in such a mess! This old fullll should learn a thing or two about context in his blind interpretation of the law. Common sense would have reminded him this is reckless utterance given the times. Needless ro say it didn't add any material value to the issue under consideration. Did anyone demand her to explain anything? Her corrupt conscience forced her to resign!
I am disappointed in this man. I used to admire him very much but now nooooooo. I'm very much disappointed. Is he for real?
LET'S SPILL A FEW BLOOD TO PUT A STOP TO THIS STUPIDTY. GHANAIANS LETS RISE!!!!! I CALL FOR A BLOODLESS COUP!!!
Oh yes! That is the bitter truth! When Ghanaians wake up to appreciate the realities of life? Even the NDC legal gurus, making so much noise about this issue know perfectly well that Cecilia Dapaah has not committed any crime. They make noise on the gullible Ghanaian for the sake of political advantage!
Sam Okudzeto…… really? No wonder you are spewing ***barred word*** and defending wrongdoing. You were living in a dilapidated house at Tesano when you were appointed a council of state member before you were able to even construct a decent fence wall around your house so you see nothing wrong with Cecilia Dapaah’s case. For defending an ex- government official for stashing huge sums of cash in her home with very lame excuses, you should be removed from the council of state and the Ghana Bar Association revoke your membership. That’s the more reason why nowadays every politician wants to go to the law school so that they can circumvent the law and engage in malfeasance. I can imagine the kind of input that you make during council deliberations.