The High Court in Accra has ordered the Office of the Special Prosecutor to return seized properties from the residence of embattled former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Dapaah to her within 7 days from Thursday, August 31, 2023.
This was after the Court presided over by Justice Edward Twum ruled that the OSP acted wrongly in exercising its powers to search the former minister’s home.
The court said the OSP, per the law, violated conditions precedent before it could make such orders to seize those properties it deemed “suspected tainted property” with corruption.
The court also ruled that the OSP failed to file the application within the 7-day statutory requirement but rather filed the seizure orders out of time, and the court cannot support it.
The court said the seizure was done on July 24 while the application was filed on August 8, which is 14 days in clear violation of the 7-day period legally required.
EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, who is monitoring proceedings, said Justice Twum said the court also found no justifiable reasons for the OSP to freeze the accounts of Cecelia Dapaah.
More soon…..
