By GII Executive Director, Mary Adda, Voices Concerns Over EOCO and OSP Handling of Cecilia Dapaah Investigation
Mary Adda, Executive Director of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has raised significant concerns regarding the conduct of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in the investigation of former sanitation minister, Cecilia Dapaah.
Adda highlighted that the current trajectory of the case involving the former sanitation minister reinforces the perception of bias and the notion that some high-profile individuals are beyond the reach of the law.
During an interview on Citi Breakfast Show, Madam Mary Adda expressed disappointment over the lack of communication between EOCO and OSP, which she asserted has resulted in a standstill in certain investigations.
Madam Adda said the attitude of the two bodies “begins to give the impression to some of us that there is something we are not being told. Everybody is trying to shift the burden to the other and that is not fair. It was myself or you, Bernard, people will work. EOCO will sit up, they will do suspicious transaction tracing, and they will work with the Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) if it was necessary.
“So the impression is being created that some people are untouchable and so if we do not want to touch them, we shift the burden to the other and we continue to shift until we give it to those who cannot do anything about it. So that is the impression and I believe that is why CDD is saying it is a done deal,” she stated.
On May 6, EOCO disclosed its intention to return the docket on the former minister to the OSP. This decision, as stated by the Executive Director of EOCO, Maame Yaa Tiwa Addo-Danquah, was based on advice from the Office of the Attorney General, which advised against initiating money laundering investigations into Cecilia Dapaah. The Attorney General cited a lack of evidence of corruption or corruption-related offenses by the OSP.
Following this decision, Maame Yaa Tiwa Addo-Danquah stated that there was nothing further her organization could do.
In response, Samuel Appiah Darko, Director of Strategy, Research, and Communications at the OSP, revealed that EOCO had already returned the docket on former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah. He contradicted EOCO’s assertion that they intended to return the docket, stating that it had already occurred.
