An Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Francis Apangabuno Achibonga, has rejected an attempt by the defence to tender a 2020 Bureau of National Communications (BNC) budget document in the ongoing trial of Kwabena Adu-Boahene and others.
The case, which centres on the alleged theft of GH¢49.1 million within the National Security framework, continued with the cross-examination of Ms Edith Ruby Opokua Adumuah, Head of Finance at the National Security Bureau and a prosecution witness.
Adu-Boahene, a former Director of the National Signals Bureau, has been granted GH¢80 million bail with two sureties, one to be justified.
The accused, his wife and two others, are facing 11 charges, including stealing, money laundering, willfully causing financial loss to the State, conspiracy, collaboration to commit crime, and abuse of public office. All have pleaded not guilty.
His wife and a company, Advantage Solutions Limited, are to remain on their existing bail terms.
During cross-examination, Mr Samuel Atta-Akyea, counsel for the accused persons, questioned the witness on whether she had detected or reported any missing funds in the cybersecurity space under her supervision.
Ms Adumuah told the court that she had not identified any instance of the alleged GH¢49.1 million theft and had not raised any concerns in her capacity as Head of Finance.
She said she could not point to any management letter, audit finding, or complaint within the National Security setup indicating that such an amount had gone missing.
The witness further confirmed that she had not lodged any complaint with the Attorney-General, Police, or the Auditor-General regarding the alleged missing funds.
However, when it was put to her that there had been no theft within the National Security space, she responded that she could not confirm that.
Ms Adumuah also told the court that she was unaware of the purpose for which certain cheques, including amounts of GH¢27 million and GH¢1 million, were authorised by the National Security Coordinator.
She added that she did not know the source of the GH¢49.1 million forming the subject of the trial, although she acknowledged that the amount formed part of the annual budget she prepared for the BNC.
Mr Atta-Akyea subsequently sought to tender a document said to be the 2020 budget from the Ministry of Finance website, dated January 10, 2020, arguing that it contained figures relating to the BNC and had been identified by the witness.
The prosecution, led by Ms Esi Yankah, Assistant State Attorney, objected to the admissibility of the document, contending that it was a hard copy and did not meet the requirements under the Electronic Transactions Act.
In his ruling, Justice Achibonga held that the document did not qualify as an electronic transaction document and that its authenticity had not been sufficiently established.
He, therefore, upheld the objection and rejected the document.
Following the ruling, Mr Atta-Akyea prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the defence to obtain the appropriate version of the 2020 budget document to aid proceedings.
The court granted the request and adjourned the trial to March 24 and 25, 2026.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
