Private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini, has questioned the basis for resigned Sanitation and Water Resources Minister’s claim that media reports are inconsistent with how much money is reported to have been stolen from her home.

Media reports emerged Friday of two housemaids who worked for the Sanitation Minister and her husband at their home, facing trial with others for the theft of huge sums of money and other items from the home.

According to the charge sheet, the pair, 18-year-old Patience Botwe and 30-year-old Sarah Agyei have allegedly stolen US$1 million, €300,000 and millions of Ghana cedis between July and October 2022. Clothes, handbags, perfumes, jewellery, kente cloth and suits belonging to Mrs. Dapaah’s husband said to be worth thousands of dollars, are alleged to have been taken.

Following the publications, Cecilia Dapaah has become the subject of critical opprobrium. Surprisingly, she has questioned the amounts alleged to have been stolen, saying there are “noticeable inconsistencies” in the discussions of what she reported to the police.

“Whereas I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the Police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position,” she said in her resignation letter.

But Samson Anyenini says the charge sheet has previously been amended twice, and wondered if she intends to amend it again.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, July 24, Samson Anyenini said he will not be surprised if the charge sheet is amended to now say the amount stolen is even only $1.

According to him, usually even before the police take a matter to court, the charge sheet is shown to the complainant(s) for any corrections or whatsoever they desire to change.

Read also: OSP arrests, questions resigned Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah over stolen ‘huge’ cash

“Well, when you make a complaint to the Police and they are about to file your charges in the court, they normally will check with you because there are times that certain errors are made and sometimes they even put the matter in court before you discover that they have made some errors and their attention is drawn and they go back and make the necessary corrections and do what we call an amendment.”

“In this case in particular, the 10 count charge sheet that was put in the court, it has been amended twice. There was an amendment on June 5, and the latest amendment was on June 20. So I don’t know why any correction that has to be made is still outstanding. So, it has been amended two times from the original amendment from the documentation that we have seen so far, and in the amendments, the first figure of a million dollars has never changed in any of the amendments, the second figure €300,000 never changed.”

“I think part of the money said to have been given to the boyfriend that appeared to be have been changed to the current amount that it is. So I don’t know what inconsistencies she is talking about. And the Police would have checked with you for something that they would have amended twice in respect of the figures. So I don’t know what they are talking about that there some inconsistencies with what was reported to the Police and what is on the charge sheet.”

“It is absolutely up to them to determine whether they want to go and do further amendments and reduce the $1 million to $1. That is up to them, if it’s $1 that has been stolen that they are chasing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Special Prosecutor has confirmed the arrest of Cecilia Dapaah over suspected corruption and corruption-related offences.

In a statement, the Special Prosecutor disclosed that “At 11:55 GMT on 24 July 2023, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who resigned from the position of Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources on 22 July 2023, was placed under arrest by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in respect of suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money and other valuable items reportedly stolen from her residence.”