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Cecilia Dapaah’s theft case: One more gets ₵300k bail
One more person has been admitted to bail in the case in which seven persons are standing trial for allegedly stealing sums of money from former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah’s residence in Accra.
So far, three out of the seven accused persons are on bail.
The Circuit Court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah admitted Job Pomary, the sixth accused person, to bail in the sum of GHC300, 000 with three sureties to be justified.
The court directed Pomary to deposit his passport with the court’s Registry.
The remaining four accused persons have been remanded into Police custody by the court and are expected to reappear on September 5.
When sitting resumed on Tuesday, counsel for Pomary drew the court’s attention to the bail application it had filed.
The prosecution, led by Akosua Agyapoma, an Assistant State Attorney, did not oppose the application for bail.
She said the State was earnestly working hard to conclude investigations and prayed for the court to grant them two weeks adjournment.
Lawyers of the other accused persons, who wanted to make oral application for bail, were directed by the court to do so by filing written bail applications.
The two accused persons, who were said to be lactating mothers, were granted bail of GHC1 million each with three sureties at the last sitting.
The two are Patience Botwe and Christiana Achab.
All the accused persons are facing eleven charges for allegedly stealing money and items from the residence of the former Minister.
The charges include six counts of stealing and five counts of dishonestly receiving.
The court ordered the defence counsels for the two who were granted bail to provide documented evidence proving that they are lactating mothers.
Earlier the prosecution, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Emmanuel Nyamekye, said that the fact and charge sheets had been amended.
Meanwhile, the court has discharged Kwaku Botwe, father of Patience Botwe, alias, Maabena.
The prosecution said one other accused, Franklin Sarakpo, was at large.
DSP Nyamekye said the complainants in the case were Mr Daniel Osei Kufour and his wife Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who lived at Abelemkpe in Accra.
The prosecution said the first accused, Patience Botwe, was a house help of the complainants, and that the second accused, Sarah Agyei, was unemployed and a former house help of the complainants.
DSP Nyamekye said the third accused, Benjamin Sowah, was Patience Botwe’s boyfriend, and the fourth accused, Malik Dauda, was the first accused’s former boyfriend and the fifth accused is Christiana Achab, a trader.
The court heard that the sixth accused is Job Pomary, husband of fifth accused, the seventh accused, Yahaya Sumaila, an excavator operator, residing at Sagnarigu, in the Tamale Metropolis and eighth accused, Franklin Sarakpo, son of fifth accused, who is on the run.
DSP Nyamekye said the police commenced investigations when in June 2023, the complainants reported theft of their cash and personal effects.
It said police investigations led to the arrest of the first and third accused persons at their hideouts in Tamale in the Northern Region.
DSP Nyamekye said when a search was conducted in the rooms of the accused, $40,000 and GHC7,619.70 were found.
The prosecution said further investigations revealed that in October last year, Mr Kufour returned from town and noticed that their bedroom had been opened and he heard an unusual noise in the house.
DSP Nyamekye said when he (complainant) entered the room, he found the first accused hiding behind the door of the storeroom holding duplicate keys to the master bedroom.
The court heard that the complainants detected theft of money and personal belongings from the room.
DSP Nyamekye said the first accused told the police during interrogation that she gave $70,000 out of the stolen money to the fifth accused allegedly to buy a three-bedroom house at Amrahia for her, and also bought some brand-new items, which were retrieved from the house.
credit:myjoyonline.com
Madam Sandra Seyram Kpedor, the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Anloga in the Volta Region, has emphasised the importance of parental involvement in children’s education, stating that education is free, but parents need to do more to support their children.
She said parents, teachers, and students must be involved in addressing the challenges facing the district’s education sector, particularly the poor Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results.
Madam Kpedor outlined some key roles parents should play to promote their children’s education, including providing a conducive learning environment, monitoring their children’s progress, and supporting teachers.
The DCE highlighted some challenges the district faced such as inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of teachers, which have also contributed to the poor BECE results and called on well-to-do parent to help solve the situation through and other supports.
To address the issues, she also announced that plans have been taken to utilise the district’s common fund to implement educational projects, such as constructing school blocks and teachers’ bungalows at Sodzi community, and 2-unit classroom blocks each at Akplorwutorkor and Tegbi-Afedome respectively, among others.
Madam Kpedor also noted that her office had earlier notified the Ministry of Education to deploy more teachers to the area to improve teaching and learning, and encouraged students to work hard and strive for excellence, and work beyond their limit to succeed.
“To my wonderful and beautiful girls, you have to know it clear that women and girls have equal opportunities to compete with men for greater achievements,” she indicated.
The DCE cited her own achievement as a testament to the fact that women can excel in leadership positions, alongside Vice President Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, and stressed that girls were no longer limited to domestic roles but can pursue their dreams and become leaders.
Additionally, she mentioned that a meeting was held earlier with assembly members, and other stakeholders to address the district’s educational challenges and improve academic performance.
She promised that the district’s education oversight committee and stakeholders would work together to address the challenges and improve the district’s BECE results and called for parental involvement and support to boost the district’s education sector for children to chase their dreams to become future leaders for the success of the district and the nation.
She urged parents not to leave everything to the government but rather help in the provision of some necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, pens, pencils, food, and guidance to children for the successes of young learners. –GNA
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The spokesperson for Dr. Bawumia, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, has criticised the implementation of the NDC government’s No Fee Stress policy, arguing that the programme has failed to deliver on its core promise.
According to him on Starr fm, the policy, which was introduced to ensure stress free payment of fees for level 100 tertiary students, has rather turned into what he described as post stress support.
He explained that students are required to pay their fees first before applying for reimbursement, a situation he believes defeats the purpose of the policy.
He questioned claims by government officials that the policy has been successful and that citizens are happy.
In his view, such claims do not reflect the lived realities of many Ghanaians. He stressed that while some people may appear satisfied, many others continue to struggle.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye pointed to the situation of trained teachers and nurses who have been picketing for nearly six months, demanding employment.
He noted that government responses suggesting it cannot accommodate all of them contradict claims of economic stability.
He further argued that economic indicators such as a stable currency mean little to people who are unable to secure jobs or access promised support.
He observed that telling an unemployed teacher or a struggling student that the cedi has strengthened does not address their immediate challenges.
On the issue of tertiary education, he maintained that no level 100 student benefited from stress free fees in 2025, despite the policy being announced.
He added that in 2026, students have already reported to school without receiving the promised support.
He insisted that asking students to pay fees first and seek reimbursement later amounts to support after hardship, not stress free education.
According to him, this approach goes against what was promised during the policy announcement.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye questioned why a government that presents the economy as strong is unable to fulfil what he described as simple and clear promises.
He added that there is a fundamental problem with the way the economy is being managed and indicated that he is prepared to explain his position further.
By: Jacob Aggrey
