Appeal Court Orders State to Hand Over Withheld Evidence in Boahene Trial; Case to Continue

The Court of Appeal has ordered the Attorney-General to release key documents and evidence to the defence team of Kwabena Adu Boahene and his wife, as their criminal trial continues.

In a ruling on an appeal over evidence disclosure, the appellate court partly granted the defence application and issued binding orders compelling the prosecution to produce several withheld materials.

The Attorney-General must now provide 88 pages of missing bank statements and disclose the source of an alleged GH¢49.1 million lodged in accounts linked to the accused.

The court also directed the state to release relevant portions of the National Security Coordinator’s file and details of special operations accounts connected to Mr Boahene. Prosecutors must further state whether the disputed funds were meant solely for acquiring a cyber defence system.

Additionally, the ruling requires the state to hand over all correspondence between national security officials and Mr Boahene’s wife regarding the creation of special purpose accounts. Those accounts were allegedly used for covert national security operations, with UMB Bank serving as the public front.

While granting the disclosure requests, the Court of Appeal dismissed the defence’s application to stay proceedings. It ruled that evidence disclosure is a continuing duty throughout a criminal trial.

The substantive trial will therefore proceed as the prosecution complies with the disclosure orders.

The decision comes after the Attorney-General earlier told the trial court that the state does not have land title certificates, conveyancing documents, or ownership records for properties in Accra, Kumasi, and London. Those properties had featured in the state’s initial public claims against Mr Boahene.