Defence lawyer slams state over handling of NSA 'ghost names' trial

The high-profile trial of former National Service Authority (NSA) Executive Director, Osei Assibey Antwi, over the massive “ghost names” scandal has once again been adjourned after the prosecution admitted it was not fully prepared to proceed.

Lawyer for the accused, Ralph Opoku-Adusei, expressed frustration in court, saying the prosecution remains ill-prepared despite several adjournments granted to them.

“The last time we were in court, I was very emphatic that the prosecution in this case is not ready. They don’t have their documents ready, they’re not prepared; very ill-prepared,” Opoku-Adusei said in an interview with Adom FM on May 13, 2026.

He added that he had even advised the prosecution to either discharge the case or properly prepare before returning to court, yet nothing of the sort was done.

“So, I told them that they can decide to discharge my clients. They can go back and do their homework and then whenever they’re ready, they can call us, and then we proceed. They argue that we should give them one month and they’ll be ready with disclosures to perform today, only to realise that my predictions had come to pass,” he said.

Assibey Antwi pleads not guilty to 21 fresh charges

According to Opoku-Adusei, the prosecution requested one month to get their disclosures ready, but even that promise was not fulfilled.

“As of yesterday at 12:30 pm, they had now filed volume two of their case. They filed volume one exactly a week ago… When the court asked if they were done with the process, they said no and that there were a lot of them to be filed, so they needed at least six weeks or indefinitely to put their documents together for filing. We don’t do criminal prosecutions like that,” the lawyer further disclosed.

Osei Assibey Antwi is facing 21 charges, including causing financial loss to the state, stealing, and money laundering.

The charges are linked to an alleged GH¢431.8 million scandal involving payments to thousands of non-existent (ghost) national service personnel during his tenure.

NSA Trial: Court varies bail conditions for Osei Assibey Antwi

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