Samuel Atta Akyea, lawyer for former National Signals Bureau (NSB) boss Kwabena Adu-Boahene, has strongly criticised the state’s decision to remand his client, calling it a “lottery” and a violation of due process.
Adu-Boahene was remanded into the custody of the Economic and Organised Office (EOCO) for seven days by a High Court in Accra on Friday, May 2, 2025.
The remand followed a request by Attorney General Dr. Dominic Ayine, who cited intelligence suggesting Adu-Boahene had attempted to interfere with a key prosecution witness in an ongoing alleged stealing case.
But speaking to Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News, Atta Akyea condemned what he described as a speculative and prejudicial approach by investigators. He accused the Attorney General of effectively declaring his client guilty even before completing investigations.
“It is a lottery to say that, oh, if I don’t incarcerate a man, I can’t conclude my investigations,” Atta Akyea said. “Meanwhile, you’ve told the whole world that these people are guilty, they are a criminal enterprise, they should come for plea bargaining and all of those things.”
He argued that the public narrative around the case has created an environment in which suspects are presumed guilty, leading to arbitrary detentions in the name of gathering evidence — a situation he described as “experimenting with their liberty.”
“People are guilty in the public space already,” he added. “Let them suffer further incarceration as I find the evidence because you want to say that they want to interfere with evidence.”
Atta Akyea also questioned the rationale behind the claim that his client could tamper with witnesses, insisting Adu-Boahene lacked any privileged access or influence over the work of state security agencies.
“With what power is he going to interfere with witnesses?” he asked. “It seems to me they want to credit Kwabena Adu-Boahene with a clairvoyance that he knows what NIB is doing and what EOCO is doing and what the AG is doing.”
He further criticised the investigators’ timeline, suggesting their delays reflected poorly on their competence and process.
“You are telling us that you are not on top of your job. You’ve been around for such a long time, incarcerated him for a long time, and you are now trying to work. It is self-defeating,” he said.
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