Henry Osei Kwabena, brother of former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has given a detailed account of how a sum of $800,000 ended up in his sister’s possession — a key point in the ongoing trial of former housemaid Patience Botwe and six others accused of stealing large amounts of money and valuables from the former minister’s home.
Testifying as the fourth prosecution witness before the High Court, presided over by Justice Marie Louise Simmons, Mr. Kwabena described events following the death of their elder brother, Nana Akwasi Essen II — also known as Charles Dapaah — an industrialist and entrepreneur.
In his evidence-in-chief, Mr. Kwabena told the court that his late brother, who had business interests in shoe manufacturing, real estate, and cocoa farming, had given their mother a spare key to his office.
After Nana Akwasi Essen passed away on January 16, 2022, their mother (now deceased) used the spare key to access his office on February 16, 2022.
“Our mother informed me that after our brother’s demise, she went into his office with the spare key and found an amount of Eight Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ($800,000) and some gold regalia packed in a box,” Mr. Kwabena testified.
According to Mr. Kwabena, their mother then instructed him to deliver the box — containing both the cash and the gold regalia — to their sister, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, for safekeeping in Accra.
He told the court that he complied with this instruction and personally sent the box to Cecilia Dapaah on February 20, 2022.
The witness further revealed that in October 2023, Cecilia Dapaah informed him that part of the money and the gold regalia had been stolen by the first accused, Patience Botwe.
Quoting his sister, Mr. Kwabena said: “Some part of our deceased brother’s money, as well as the gold regalia, had been stolen by the first accused person, Patience Botwe.”
The court continues to examine evidence presented by Mr. Kwabena and other witnesses in the trial, which centers on allegations that Patience Botwe — along with six others — stole large sums of money and valuables from Cecilia Dapaah’s residence.
Mr. Kwabena is currently undergoing cross-examination by defense lawyers.
The case has been adjourned to July 8, 2025, for further proceedings.
