Court of Appeal refuses bid to halt Adu-Boahene trial

The Court of Appeal has refused to stop the criminal trial of former National Signals Bureau Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene, his wife Angela Adjei-Boateng and Advantage Solutions Limited.

The three had asked the appellate court to stay proceedings at the High Court while challenging an earlier ruling on disclosure of documents.

But in a unanimous decision delivered in Accra on Thursday, May 28, 2026, the Court of Appeal held that they had not shown exceptional circumstances to justify suspending the trial.

The panel was presided over by Justice Georgina Mensah-Datsa, with Justices George Buadi and Ayitey Armah-Tetteh concurring.

Although the court dismissed the request to pause the trial, it partly allowed the appeal on disclosures.

It ordered the prosecution to provide missing pages two to 89 of Advantage Solutions Limited’s UMB Bank account statement.

The court also directed the immediate past National Security Coordinator to disclose whether the GH¢49.1 million at the centre of the trial was meant only for the importation of the cyber defence system.

However, the court refused some of the wider requests made by the accused persons.

These included demands relating to extensive National Security operational accounts and the identities of private National Security operatives.

The Court of Appeal said disclosures in criminal proceedings are continuous and can proceed while the trial is ongoing.

“We hold that compliance with the order of this Court for disclosure can be done concurrently with the case continuing,” the court said.

It added that it was in the interest of justice and speedy trial for the High Court proceedings to continue.

The appeal arose from a July 3, 2025 ruling by the Accra High Court, presided over by Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu.

That ruling dismissed an application by the accused persons asking the court to compel the Attorney-General to disclose documents they described as exculpatory.

Mr Adu-Boahene, Mrs Adjei-Boateng and Advantage Solutions Limited are facing charges including stealing, conspiracy to steal, defrauding by false pretences, wilfully causing financial loss to the state, using public office for profit, obtaining public property by false statements, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

They have all pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution alleges that Mr Adu-Boahene unlawfully obtained GH¢49.1 million from the National Security Coordinator’s Special Operations Account and transferred the money into the account of BNC Communications Limited.

The state claims the funds were later used for the private benefit of the accused persons.

In their appeal, the accused persons argued that the High Court wrongly interpreted their constitutional right to adequate facilities to prepare a defence.

They said the refusal to order disclosure of the missing bank statement pages affected their ability to prepare for trial.

They also argued that the prosecution had a duty to obtain and disclose relevant evidence from investigative and security agencies.

The Court of Appeal accepted that the prosecution’s disclosure duty extends beyond materials physically in its possession.

It held that the duty also covers documents within the control of investigative agencies or materials that could be obtained with reasonable diligence.

But the court concluded that this did not justify staying the trial.

The application for stay of proceedings was therefore dismissed.