Four weeks after his arrest with no charges, Mr. Kwabena Adu Boahene, the former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB), has filed a lawsuit against the Attorney General for defaming him and his wife, Angela Adjei-Boateng, during a press conference on March 24.
Mr Dominic Ayine, in a dramatic press conference on the said date, labelled accusations of embezzlement and money laundering against Mr Adu Boahene and Madam Adjei-Boateng.
Mr Ayine alleged that the former Director-General misappropriated $7 million meant for a national cyber defence system under the NSB.
The Attorney General claimed that Mr Adu Boahene redirected funds from the contract signed in January 2020 into a private company he owns with his wife, using them to acquire properties both in Ghana and abroad.
This followed the Rambo-style arrest of Mr Adu Boahene and his wife by operatives of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) on March 20 and March 21.
But in a writ dated April 24, 2025, Mr Adu Boahene and his wife, the plaintiffs, assert that Mr Ayine’s claims in the infamous press briefing painted them as scammers and fraudsters to the world.
They said the video of the conference and the commentaries that followed have been widely circulated on the internet, and in effect attracted “severe, unmitigated and disdainful backlash” to the couple to this day.
This has also affected the couple’s young children, who have been taunted and bullied by their schoolmates.
“In consequence, the plaintiffs’ reputation has been seriously damaged and they have suffered public shame, public hatred, distress and embarrassment,” the writ stated.
The writ also lists several grievances, such as arresting and detaining them in the custody of EOCO without offering the chance to hear their side of the story, publishing false allegations about the plaintiffs’ travel history and financial dealings and using the media to brand them guilty before trial.
The plaintiffs insist that these were done with malice to lower their esteem in the eyes of right-thinking Ghanaians.
On these accounts, Mr Adu Boahene and his wife are seeking the following reliefs:
- Exemplary and punitive damages against the Defendant for publishing and/or broadcasting highly offensive, defamatory material of and concerning the Plaintiffs in his press conference dated the 24th day of March 2025.
- An order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant from further publishing and/or broadcasting or causing to be published and/or broadcast the said or similar words defamatory of the Plaintiff.
- Costs, including lawyer’s professional fees.
