Cecilia Dapaah: Ghanaians force Akufo-Addo’s girl to resign

Pressure from Ghanaians and the fear of further denting the Akufo-Addo-led administration’s image has led to the resignation of embattled Sanitation and Water Resources Minister Cecilia Dapaah. The former Bantama MP’s name got on the tongue of many Ghanaians as she trended on social and traditional media since Friday, July 21, 2023.

In her resignation letter, Cecilia Abena Dapaah said the Ghanaian media made stories that “…sought to suggest that I own various huge sums of foreign currencies and millions of Ghana cedis which have been stolen from my home”.

She also took the opportunity to blame others as she claimed the figures she reported to the police were different from what is in the public domain. However, she said she is resigning to protect the already tainted image of President Akufo-Addo’s government.

“It has been a great privilege and honour for me to have been given the opportunity to serve in your government and an even greater honour to have worked to try and bring your great vision for our country to fruition,” parts of the letter read.

“Since yesterday, Friday, July 21, 2023, social and traditional media have been full of stories about a court case involving a theft that took place last year in the home I live with my husband and daughter. The stories sought to suggest that I own various huge sums of foreign currencies and millions of Ghana cedis which have been stolen from my home.

“Whereas I can state emphatically that those figures do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the Police, I am very much aware of the import of such stories around someone in my position.

“I am resigning therefore because I do not want this matter to become a preoccupation of government and a hindrance to the work of government at such a crucial time,” she explained.

She pledged her full cooperation for investigations, stating, “I intend to cooperate fully with all state agencies to enable them fully establish the facts”.

According to the former minister, despite the outrage from Ghanaians and the accusations levelled against her, she believes she will come clean.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that at the end of the processes, it will be fully established that I have conducted myself with integrity during my period in public service, and I will be fully exonerated from all the allegations that have filled the public domain in the past 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has accepted the resignation as he thanked her for her service to the country.

A statement by Eugene Arhin, Director of Communication at the Presidency, said, “President Akufo-Addo applauded Hon. Cecilia Dapaah’s loyalty to the image and standing of his Government, and thanked her also for her wholehearted contribution and devotion to the progress of Government and the Nation.”