OSP petitions CJ to remove judge

The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has petitioned the Chief Justice seeking the recusal of Justice Edward Twum, the judge presiding over the case of former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah.

Justice Twum inform the court today that he had received a letter by the OSP to the Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Sackey Torkornoo, for him to recuse himself from the case.

In view of the petition, Justice Twum adjourned the case to await the decision of the Chief Justice on the petition.

The content of the petition by the OSP was however not revealed in court.

The court was today expected to take the plea of Ms Dapaah in a case in which the OSP had accused her of failing to declare her assets during her time as a Minister.

Justice Twum is the judge who had presided over all the cases filed against the former Minister by the OSP.

Freezing motion
On August 31, Justice Twum dismissed a motion by the OSP seeking to continue to freeze the accounts of Ms Dapaah.

It was the considered view of the court that the OSP could not provide any legal basis ro freeze the account

He held that the OSP was in doubt about the true ownership of the alleged tainted property found in Ms Dapaah’s house and also failed to convince the court that the alleged tainted property were used in connection with a crime.

“If he (OSP) is unsure as to ownership, how did he reach the conclusion that the property is tainted?” the presiding judge queried.

Background
The OSP commenced investigation on Ms Dapaah for corruption and corruption-related offences following the revelation that she was keeping more than $1 million in her house.

That was after police prosecutors had arraigned two househelps working for Ms Dapaah and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, at an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly stealing money and items worth millions of Ghana cedis from the couple’s residence at Abelemkpe in Accra.

Source: graphic online