A former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), Kwabena Adu-Boahene, would not hesitate to disclose full sensitive and classified national security information if that becomes necessary as to prove his innocence in the ongoing GHS49 million cybersecurity procurement scandal trial; his lead counsel Samuel Atta Akyea has warned.
The National Signals Bureau, of which Adu-Boahene was the Director-General is a State Security institution which provides integrated signal systems for National Security and Ghana’s intelligence agencies to ensure the security of the country and the nature of information available to him may be volatile and not for public consumption.
Mr. Adu-Boahene was re arrested yesterday and sent to the custody of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) after he had served remand period of seven working days and was very sure he would be going home.
This did not seem to have gone down well with his lawyers and his lead counsel spoke to journalists who asked his thoughts:
“They are pushing him in areas of national security. And when push comes to shove, he has to defend himself. And somebody will turn around. And why is the National Security Intelligence Officer trying to bring into the public domain national security matters when he swore an oath? So you swear an oath, and national security will not come to your aid, so you go to jail? That’ll be unfortunate. It will be a tragedy that cannot be calculated.”
Atta Akyea explained that his client had to write to the current Director-General of the NSB to explain the dilemma to him and seek his intervention but it was unfortunate the contents of that letter which contained some classified information got into the public domain.
Mr. Atta Akyea did not mince words in telling journalists that if pushed to the wall, his client would not hesitate to reveal more classified information to investigators and to the court if that would be a prerequisite to prove his innocence of the charges of stealing, money laundering and causing financial loss to the State filed against him.
The lawyer expressed his unhappiness about the re-arrest:
“At the last sitting, the judge ordered that he should have his freedom on Monday, May 12. They said they have another matter they are investigating concerning him. So, when he was supposed to have his freedom, by their calculations, they released him at midnight and rearrested him on the basis of a new matter they were looking at.
“The question is, in the period when he had his freedom, why didn’t they deal with the matter?
“Is somebody very excited over the incarceration of another Ghanaian, with all manner of tactics…that is unfortunate. He’s gone back to EOCO. I’m going back there to find out what the new issue is…He’s on huge bail, he’s leaving nowhere, I believe that they should come clean that this is a personal vendetta. This is a man you believe you have some criminal case against, you give him space to defend himself and give him also the freedom.
“Even murderers are bailable, I don’t think we’re going to rewrite the criminal jurisprudence of Ghana because of one man,” lawyer Atta Akyea added
It turned out that the re-arrest of Adu-Boahene was over services the NSB provided to the Ghana Water Company Limited during his tenure as Director-General.
“I’ve been hinted that it relates to secured Internet services for the benefit of another state institution, the Ghana Water Company, that national security provided them with gadgets and well-meaning things, so that if you’re even in your room, you’ll be able to see the pipes whether they are being tampered with,” lawyer Atta Akyea explained.
Background of the Case
The case began when Attorney General Dominic Ayine filed criminal charges against Adu-Boahene and his wife. They are being prosecuted along with two other parties—Mildred Donkor and a private company, Advantage Solutions Limited.
The four are facing 11 charges, including defrauding by false pretences, money laundering, and stealing. The charges stem from a $7 million deal signed by Adu-Boahene with ISC Holdings Limited, an Israeli company, for cybersecurity software.
Investigations revealed that Adu-Boahene allegedly transferred nearly GHS49 million from the NSB’s funds into his personal accounts. These transfers were presented as payments for the cyber defence systems, but authorities believe the transactions were fraudulent.
On May 2, 2025, the court ordered that Adu-Boahene be held in custody by the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for seven working days to allow the Attorney General to complete its preparations.
