The High Court in Accra has dismissed a request for adjournment by newly appointed counsel for the third accused in the National Signals Bureau (NSB) case, even as it issued a partial ruling on a separate motion for further disclosures filed by lawyers for the first and second accused persons.
The trial, which involves former NSB Director Kwabena Adu-Boahene and three others, resumed on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, with multiple legal submissions and judicial directives that have narrowed the evidentiary landscape going forward.
Presiding over proceedings, Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu ruled that Mildred Donkor, the third accused, had had sufficient opportunity to retain legal counsel and was expected to have adequately briefed her newly appointed lawyer prior to the sitting.
“I ordinarily would have granted the request if the accused were illiterate,” Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu said. The court thereby declined the adjournment request and ordered that the motion on the docket be moved without further delay.
Appearing in court for the first time on Donkor’s behalf, Mr. Nutifafa Nutsukpui told the court he had been officially engaged only the previous evening and was not yet familiar with the case documents.
The Deputy Attorney General, Justice Srem-Sai, opposed the request, asserting that legal representation was not a matter to be used for delay. According to him, the motion scheduled for the day had little bearing on Donkor herself.
“Disclosure is an ongoing process. When counsel properly enters the matter, he has every right to seek the disclosures relevant to his client”
Justice Srem-Sai, Deputy Attorney General
Additional Disclosures Partially Denied
In a separate ruling during the same hearing, the High Court partially dismissed a motion filed by Mr. Samuel Atta Akyea, counsel for Adu-Boahene, his wife Angela Adjei-Boateng, and the fourth accused.
The motion sought additional disclosures from the prosecution, including the bill of lading for a BMW vehicle, entry port documentation, and the police docket related to that vehicle.
Mr. Akyea argued that the bill of lading was essential to verifying whether the car in question had indeed been imported under suspicious circumstances, as alleged by the state. He claimed the documents were vital to countering an “unfortunate” prosecutorial narrative.
But the prosecution rejected this stance. The Deputy Attorney General described the motion as legally unsound and maintained that the bill of lading was not in their possession.
According to Justice Srem-Sai, the customs declaration already submitted in court identified Adu-Boahene as both importer and exporter, implying the accused had the original documentation. “The customs declaration form already provides the necessary importation details,” he stated.
Justice Nyante Nyadu, in his ruling, held that the prosecution had already addressed the request through a supplementary witness statement filed by Frank Cromwell, a state witness. He thus denied the defence request for the bill of lading, port of entry, and related vehicle clearance documents.
However, on the issue of the police docket, the judge acknowledged that while the Attorney General’s office did not have direct access to the full file, the Police Criminal Investigations Department had shared limited extracts. Justice Nyante Nyadu therefore issued a directive.
“This court orders the Ghana Police Service to directly provide all relevant information in their possession concerning the BMW 740D with chassis number J020CM11428 to the defence team”
Justice John Eugene Nyante Nyadu
The four accused persons – Kwabena Adu-Boahene, Angela Adjei-Boateng, Mildred Donkor, and a fourth unnamed individual – stand charged with the alleged theft of GHS 49 million from the NSB. The prosecution maintains the funds were misappropriated and used to acquire properties and other personal assets.
The court has adjourned proceedings to July 31, 2025, for the hearing of another pending motion.
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