Accra, July 23, GNA- President Nana Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo has accepted the resignation of Cecilia Abena Dapaah asMinister of Sanitation and Water Resources and a member of the government.
Madam Dapaah tendered in her resignation to thePresident on Saturday, July 22, 2023, a day after she made headlines after two former domestic staff were arraigned for stealing cash and personal effects from the minister’shome at Abelenkpe, Accra, between July and October 2022.
The two domestic staff and three others are facing chargesbefore an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing an amount of $1 million,€300,000, and millions of Ghanaian cedis belonging to the minister and herhusband.
The case sparked outrage against the minister onsocial media and calls for her resignation, with many questioning the source ofsuch a stash of cash in her home.
The minister has however denied any wrongdoing on herpart.
She had in a statement before her resignation indicatedthat there were inconsistencies in the reports on the matter and what wasactually before the Court.
“There are noticeable inconsistencies between what isbeing discussed in the public domain and the thrust of the original complainton the matter,” she stated in response to the money stolen from her home.
“Whereas I can state emphatically that those figuresdo not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the Police, I amvery much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position,”the minister wrote in her resignation letter.
“I am resigning therefore because I do not want thismatter to become a preoccupation of the government and a hindrance to the work ofgovernment at such a crucial time.
” I intend to cooperate fully with all state agenciesto enable them fully to establish the facts, I have no doubt whatsoever that atthe end of the processes, it will be fully established that I have conductedmyself with integrity during my period in public service and I will be fullyexonerated from all the allegations that have filled the public domain in thepast 24 hours,” she said.
President Akufo-Addo, in his response to the Minister’sresignation, applauded her loyalty to the image and standing of his governmentand thanked her for her contribution to the Government’s and the nation’s progress.
“The work you undertook during your period in governmentwas excellent and productive. I thank you for your wholeheartedcontribution and devotion to the progress of the government and the nation.
“I am confident, like you, that, at the end of theday, your integrity, whilst in office, will be fully established. I wish youthe very best in all your endeavours,” the President said.
The President will soon appoint a new minister for Sanitationand Water Resources.
GNA