Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Constituency, Samuel Nartey George has called on the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah to resign from her position.

He says that if Madam Abena Dapaah really cherishes the position she holds in the country, she should step down before the government takes a decision to dismiss her.

“If honourable Cecilia Abena Dapaah was minded by the titled she bears as honourable, she should have resigned, she shouldn’t even wait to be sacked,” Mr George said on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday.

The Minority MP's assertion comes after an Accra High Court was told that huge sums of money and other items of the Sanitation Minister and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour have been stolen from their Abelemkpe home.

According to the prosecution, the thefts happened between July and October 2022. 

The Chronicle newspaper reports that two househelps – Patience Botwe, 18, and Sarah Agyei, 30 – are currently facing one count of conspiracy to commit a crime and five counts of stealing, involving amounts of US$1 million, €300,000, and millions of Ghana Cedis.

Madam Dapaah and her husband reported the theft case to the police in June of this year after Mr Kuffour [husband] caught one of the accused [Patience Botew] red-handed in their room with a duplicate key, leading to her arrest.

On the back of this, the Ningo-Prampram MP asserted that the government should take interest in the amount of money which was stashed in the couple’s house.

According to him, the money which was hoarded in their home is more than the amount of money the two househelps [accused] stole from them.

He explained that it will be conspicuous for the couple to realise the amount of money which the two househelps stole even if it was half of the money which were stashed at their home.

“For it to be so inconsequential that you couldn’t notice its absent until you stumbled on the person should give us a bigger worry as a nation how much was stashed at their home.

“And I agreed with Professor Appiagyei-Atua that there’s no crime in keeping your money under your bed, in a bank, digging a hole and putting it in, it’s your personal choice. There’s no legislation that says all monies must be deposited at the bank so on that one, it's fine if she kept the money.

“But the question I will then ask is if one million dollars is so inconsequential, I’m looking at the quantum of – my minds are envisaging how much money was stashed there, how then did you come by that money,” Mr George said.

He further expressed disbelief whether the money which were hoarded at the house of the Sanitation Minister and her husband was legitimate.

“If it’s legitimate money, you can start showing us the trail of work done to inherit or earn that money and then if it is inheritance or earned, we must see the commensurate tax that has been paid to the GRA on that matter,” the Minority MP stressed.

He continued that “But if you are unable to show us any legitimate business that paid that money – and again the question you ask yourself is for that volume of, which legitimate business will pay you in cash.

"Were you paid by bank wire and you went to the bank and asked the bank to withdraw and bring it to your house, if that was the case, you must tell us which bank, the bank must confirm that they indeed did a cash-out of that amount and delivered," the Ningo-Prampram MP said.