The criminal trial involving former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahene has taken a dramatic turn after the High Court in Accra temporarily halted proceedings pending a decision from the Supreme Court over the controversial conduct of trials during Ghana’s legal vacation.
On Monday, August 17, 2026, the High Court adjourned the case involving Adu-Boahene and his wife, Angela Adjei-Boateng, to August 25, 2026, deciding not to proceed while an injunction application connected to legal vacation sittings remains before the Supreme Court.
The development follows an application filed at the Supreme Court by Ofoase/Ayirebi MP Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, seeking to restrain the High Court from continuing certain proceedings during the legal vacation. The Supreme Court application is scheduled to return on August 20, 2026.
The latest decision adds another significant chapter to a trial that has already generated intense legal debate.
Adu-Boahene and his wife are standing trial over allegations connected to approximately GH¢49.1 million in state funds linked to a cybersecurity transaction. They have faced charges including stealing, money laundering and using public office for private gain.
The controversy intensified after Adu-Boahene’s lead lawyer, Samuel Atta Akyea, objected to the continuation of the substantive criminal trial during the legal vacation. Atta Akyea argued that the vacation period has traditionally been reserved largely for urgent matters rather than lengthy substantive trials.
However, Deputy Attorney-General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai has maintained that judges properly authorised to sit during the vacation have the power to conduct proceedings and has criticised the defence’s absence from earlier hearings.
The Chief Justice’s warrant authorising Justice Francis Achibonga to sit during the 2026 legal vacation reportedly states that he may “conduct hearings” and does not expressly restrict him to emergency or interlocutory matters.
With proceedings now paused, attention shifts firmly to the Supreme Court, whose decision could provide crucial direction on the legal vacation controversy and determine how the Adu-Boahene trial proceeds when the parties return to the High Court.
