The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has been directed by the High Court in Accra to submit charge and investigation caution statements that were taken from former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah and her spouse to the court.
The OSP has one week from the date of service to comply with the order, which was given by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons.
The lawyers for Patience Botwe, the first of seven defendants on trial for allegedly stealing money from Cecilia Dapaah and her husband, filed the motion that led to this decision.
On June 12, 18-year-old Patience Botwe, Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s former housemaid, filed a motion in the High Court asking for all case-related investigation records.
The former minister’s husband, Daniel Osei Kufuor, is presently being cross-examined by the accused’s attorneys in the witness box.
Getting records from the OSP, according to Patience Botwe’s counsel, will “allow us to effectively cross-examine” Daniel Osei Kufuor, the former minister’s husband.
The OSP’s arrest-related interviews, charge statements, interrogation transcripts, and investigation caution statements are all included in the request. OSP prosecutors, however, resisted the request for these records.
In her decision on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, Justice Simmons mandated that the charge and caution statements for the investigation be submitted within a week of the order being served. Within that time range, she directed the registrar to serve the OSP with a copy of the order.
“The Special Prosecutor is to provide the investigation caution statements and charge statements of the first prosecution witness, Daniel Osei Kufuor, and Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah, and affect a copy to the first accused,” she stated.
The court declined the request for interrogation transcripts and interviews obtained from the couple, partially granting the request.
Documents Sought
In accordance with Article 19(2)(e) and (g) and the court’s inherent jurisdiction, the affidavit pertaining to the application asked the OSP to present all investigation caution statements, interviews, and interrogations of Cecilia Dapaah and Daniel Osei Kufuor before the court.
In order to allow their attorney to cross-examine Madam Cecilia Dapaah and Mr. Daniel Osei Kufuor on these issues, the first accused requested “an order directed at the Office of the Special Prosecutor to bring all investigation caution statements, interviews, and interrogations of Madam Cecilia Dapaah,”
“Madam Cecilia Dapaah and Mr. Daniel Osei Kufuor were at the Office of the Special Prosecutor, where investigation caution statements were taken from them in respect of this matter,” was the rationale behind the request for these records.
Additionally, they mentioned that the couple had been questioned and grilled about the supposed money, which they said the first accused had taken from their Abelenkpe property.
The petitioners further contended that the OSP had openly declared that Mr. Daniel Kufuor and Madam Cecilia Dapaah lacked proof that the sums indicated in their witness testimonies were theirs.
They think the OSP’s information would help the first accused defend herself.
