The acting Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative, Mary Awelana Addah says President Akufo-Addo has an opportunity to redeem his image by taking a critical decision on the Minister for Sanitation, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, for allegedly stashing huge sums of money in her home.

Madam Addah wants the president to cease the opportunity to eliminate the "clearing agent" tag that has been ascribed to him out of the belief that he easily clears his appointees of any wrongdoing each time they're accused of engaging in corrupt practices.

According to her, the Minister should be asked to step aside to allow for the responsible state agencies to ascertain the legitimacy of the monies she's alleged to have stashed at home.

"We believe that for the president to redeem his image and also take off that mantra that has been ascribed to him for some time now, that he is a clearing agent, this is the time for him to act and act swiftly and ask this minister to step aside and let the agencies of state take this thing up.

"I believe the OSP has shown in time past that he can do this and he will do it very well if allowed. And so the president should let this woman step aside immediately," she said on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday.

An Accra High Court has been told that huge sums of money and other items of the Sanitation Minister and her husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour have been stolen from their Abelemkpe home.

According to the prosecution, the thefts happened between July and October 2022. 

The Chronicle newspaper reports that two househelps – Patience Botwe, 18, and Sarah Agyei, 30 – are currently facing one count of conspiracy to commit a crime and five counts of stealing, involving amounts of US$1 million, €300,000, and millions of Ghana Cedis.

Madam Dapaah and her husband reported the theft case to the police in June of this year after Mr Kuffour [husband] caught one of the accused [Patience Botew] red-handed in their room with a duplicate key, leading to her arrest.

Although the public is condemning the crime of stealing, the focus has vastly shifted to how the minister acquired the amount and why she's keeping it at home.

Some reports have suggested that the Minister had no idea of the stolen money until her husband chanced upon one of the house helps in their room with a duplicated key.

Speculations are that the amount may be more since it took her a while to notice the amounts that had been stolen.

"This was not even noticed. Meaning there's a lot more such where it came from," Madam Addah argued.

According to her, government should make use of the asset declaration processes to determine if the monies were genuinely acquired.

The acting GII Executive Director said in the wake of public discussion on digitalisation and the government's implementation of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) last year, the Minister should have set a good example.