Chief Justice keeps Adu-Boahen and Abdul-Wahab cases in court during legal vacation

Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has rejected an application by lawyers for former National Signals Bureau (NSB) Director-General Kwabena Adu-Boahen and former National Food and Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Hanan Abdul-Wahab to postpone their cases until October.

The decision means proceedings involving the two former officials will continue during the legal vacation, rather than being deferred until the courts resume after the break.

The request was made through a petition challenging a warrant issued by the Chief Justice. That warrant authorised the judges assigned to the cases to sit as vacation judges and continue hearing matters during the legal vacation.

Lawyers for the accused persons, including Samuel Atta Akyea and Godfred Dame, told the court that they had prior commitments during the vacation period. On that basis, they asked for the proceedings to be adjourned until October.

However, speaking at the 2nd Quadrennial Delegates Congress of the Senior Staff Association of the Judicial Service on Tuesday, August 11, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie said decisions to adjourn cases belonged to the courts.

He made clear that such matters could not be treated as administrative decisions that automatically fell within the scope of the legal vacation.

The cases will therefore proceed while the courts are operating under the vacation arrangements. The court has adjourned the matter to August 18 for further case management proceedings.

The ruling follows concerns raised by the defence teams about the availability of counsel during the period. Lawyers representing the accused persons said some members of the teams had already travelled outside the country and made commitments for the vacation before the decision was taken to continue the proceedings.

Their petition had sought to challenge the administrative authorisation allowing the judges handling the cases to sit during the legal vacation. The lawyers’ request for a delay until October was therefore linked both to their existing commitments and to the objection against the warrant issued by the Chief Justice.

Despite those arguments, the Chief Justice maintained that the continuation of the cases was a matter for the court to determine. The proceedings will now return on August 18 for the next stage of case management involving Kwabena Adu-Boahen and Hanan Abdul-Wahab.