The name Cecilia Abena Dapaah has dominated the news headlines since Friday, July 21, flowing from a news report about grand theft of local and foreign currency denominated notes in cash from her private residence.
The Sanitation and Gender Resources Minister subsequently resigned her position 24 hours later and has since stated that she was ready to cooperate with any probe into the monetary losses she suffered.
Two of her former house maids are before an Accra Circuit Court for stealing among others a million dollars, 300,000 euros and 350,000 cedis in cash, all belonging to the minister, from her residence in Abelemkpe in Accra.
Who is Cecilia Abena Dapaah?
Below is her profile as shared by the Sanitation and Water Resources Ministry:
She was born on 27 November 1954 in Mpasatia in the Ashanti Region, schooled for the better part in Ghana till her university level.
Hon Mrs. Cecilia Abena Dapaah is an astute politician with over 25 years’ experience in management and an hotelier. She is a gender and human rights activist and has a great passion for the WASH sector which has heavily contributed to Ghana’s great strides in achieving the SDG 6 goal.
Hon. Dapaah’s academic laurels include Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Linguistics in 1979 from the University of Ghana, a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School in leadership.
She also holds a postgraduate certificate in International Development Studies from the University of Oslo in Norway and a postgraduate certificate in Leadership Development for Women in Management from the Atlanta Management Institute.
Hon. Dapaah served as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Ghana Cocoa Processing Company between 2001 and 2006. She was the deputy Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing under the erstwhile President Kufuor’s administration, from 2005 to 2006, and became the Minister of State from 2007 to 2008.
During the Minister’s term as Member of Parliament for Bantama (in the Ashanti Region), she served on various committees such as Works and Housing; Advisory Committee to the Speaker; Employment, Social Welfare and Youth; Foreign Affairs; and Special Budget.
Hon. Cecilia Abena Dapaah was the Minister for Aviation from 2017 and served in that capacity till she was moved to the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources in 2018 till date.
Whilst serving in the capacity as a Minister, Hon. Dapaah held the position of the Executive Oversight and Chairperson of the Ghana Aids Commission between 2017 and 2021.
She was also the Caretaker Minister for the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection for a year (2021-2022). She is the Chairperson of the Infrastructure Committee of Cabinet and the President of the Council of Ministers of the Volta Basin Authority.
Minister Dapaah has participated in several Conferences as their Guest Speaker notable among them are, World Bank Water Week, Sanitation and Water for All Ministers’ meeting, Budapest Water Week, UNESCO International Week, World Water Week among others.
Minister’s dedication to her work has seen her being awarded as the “Incisive Public Servant” in 2019 by the Pan African Top Brands Eminence Awards. She also received the “Balafon award of Excellence” for her exceptional role as an Aviation Minister in 2018.
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