The cases involving former National Signals Bureau (NSB) director-general Kwabena Adu-Boahen and former NAFCO chief executive officer Hanan Abdul-Wahab will continue during Ghana’s legal vacation.

Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has rejected a request by lawyers for the two accused persons to defer the proceedings until October.

The defence teams had petitioned against a warrant authorising the judges handling the cases to sit during the vacation.

The lawyers, including Samuel Atta Akyea and Godfred Dame, argued that members of the defence teams had already made commitments for the vacation period, including travel outside the country.

They consequently asked for the proceedings to be suspended until October.

However, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, speaking at the 2nd Quadrennial Delegates Congress of the Senior Staff Association of the Judicial Service on Tuesday, August 11, said adjournments were matters for the courts.

He said such decisions could not be treated as administrative matters that automatically become subject to the legal vacation.

The position means the cases will remain active throughout the vacation period.

The court has adjourned the matters to August 18 for further case management proceedings.

The defence teams had maintained that continuing during the vacation could affect their ability to effectively represent their clients because some lawyers had already travelled outside Ghana or made other prior commitments.

The request for an October adjournment was therefore based largely on the availability of counsel during the vacation.

With the Chief Justice rejecting the request, the proceedings will continue under the authorisation granted to the judges handling the cases.