The High Court in Accra has directed the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to provide the investigation caution and charge statements of Cecilia Dapaah, former sanitation minister, and her husband to Patience Botwe, the first accused person in the ongoing criminal trial concerning the alleged theft of large sums of money from Dapaah’s residence.
This ruling follows an application by Patience Botwe, the former house help, requesting access to the investigation statements, charge documents, and transcripts of interviews conducted by the OSP involving Cecilia Dapaah and her husband.
Botwe’s legal team argued that these documents were crucial for her defence and to cross-examine Dapaah and her husband, who are witnesses in the case.
Botwe’s lawyers had previously filed a request under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for the same documents, but the OSP denied the request, stating that the information was exempt under the RTI Act. As a result, her lawyers sought the High Court’s intervention.
The OSP opposed the application, arguing that the court’s jurisdiction was not properly invoked and that the request was premature.
However, Justice Marie-Louis Simmons dismissed these objections, stating that the court had inherent powers to grant the request.
She cited Article 19(2)(e)(g) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees an accused person the right to adequate time and resources to prepare a defence and examine prosecution witnesses.
The judge ruled that it is within the accused person’s rights to access all relevant documents held by the prosecution, including those from third parties like the OSP.
She also referenced the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Baffoe Bonnie case, which emphasized the importance of allowing accused persons to access necessary materials for their defence.
Botwe’s legal team had argued that discrepancies in Dapaah and her husband’s accounts, particularly regarding the source of the stolen funds, made these documents essential for cross-examination.
They also pointed to previous communications from the OSP indicating that Dapaah and her husband could not fully explain the origin of some of the stolen money.
While the court granted the request for the investigation and caution statements, it denied Botwe’s request for access to the recordings and transcripts of the interviews and interrogations of Dapaah and her husband.
The OSP has been instructed to provide the ordered documents within a week of receiving the court’s ruling.
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