Godfred Yeboah Dame, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice has described as "cheap politics" the decision by former President John Dramani Mahama to reopen the Cecelia Dapaah’s case when he is voted as President in the upcoming December 2024 elections.
Taking to his official X page, the leader and flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), wrote, "my government will reopen investigations into alleged acts of corruption and graft in the Cecelia Dapaah case.’’
This statement made by the former President, according to the A-G and minister of Justice, stems out of desperation for power, accusing the former President of seizing every opportunity in the public discourse to score political points.
Godfred Dame in an interview with Accra based Joy FM on May 2, said, “He is only playing cheap politics. He hears something, then he says I will fix it.”
The Attorney General further indicated that since investigations are still ongoing by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, the former president will be engaging in a needless exercise should he (Mahama) decide to reopen the case.
A-G To EOCO
Former President John Mahama’s statement comes on the heels of the Attorney-General’s recent advice to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to suspend investigations into the alleged money laundering case leveled against the former Sanitation minister by the Special Prosecutor.
The Attorney General’s letter to EOCO was as a result of EOCO’s decision to seek futrjher advice on the said matter for which the Attorney general in a letter dated April 25, 2024, and copied to EOCO, said it found out that the OSP did not submit the report on its collaborative investigation to EOCO.
In addition to the above, the Attorney General’s office said it also realized that the OSP had not responded to EOCO’s request for its findings.
According to the A-G's office, the docket presented to EOCO only contains the OSP’s letter transmitting the docket, the diary of action, statements taken during the investigation, and letters written by the OSP to other institutions like the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and banks for inquiries.
OSP: No Evidence Of Corruption Found?
Further analysis of the docket by the Attorney-General’s office revealed that the OSP did not find any evidence of corruption or corruption-related offenses against Cecilia Dapaah.
The Attorney-General’s office emphasised that the key to pursuing money laundering investigations is the capacity to prove that financial gains were obtained from criminal proceeds arising from unlawful activity.
“In the absence of the identification of any criminality associated with the properties retrieved from the suspects, the OSP’s referral to EOCO for investigations to be conducted into money laundering is without basis.”
The Attorney-General also advised against EOCO investigating the source of Cecilia Dapaah’s funds on the basis that the CID had been tasked with taking charge of that aspect of the case.
