IMANI’s Bright Simons Criticizes Lack of Oversight in National Security Spending Amid NSB Scandal
Vice President of IMANI Ghana, Bright Simons, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding alleged illicit wealth accumulation by Kwabena Adu Boahene, the former Director-General of the National Signals Bureau (NSB).
In a post on X on Monday, March 24, Mr Simons argued that embezzlement is uncommon in Ghana’s public sector, as funds are typically diverted through sophisticated schemes.
However, he acknowledged that the ongoing investigation into the NSB scandal, spearheaded by Raymond Archer at the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Attorney General’s office, appears to be a rare case of outright embezzlement.
Mr Simons emphasized that the use of national security confidentiality in financial dealings has created an environment ripe for misconduct. He called for reforms in auditing national security expenditures to ensure greater accountability.
“I notice, for instance, that a lot of the ‘diverted’ National Signals Bureau money went to Mayfair Estates, the same company that has executed massive National Security projects for the armed forces. All these projects were highly opaque, covered by the thick pall of ‘national security confidentiality,’” he stated.
He warned that had Mr Adu Boahene used offshore entities in jurisdictions like the Seychelles, uncovering the financial misappropriation would have been significantly more challenging. He urged the Ghanaian government to implement special audit measures to enhance oversight over national security spending.
Attorney General Confirms $7 Million Cyber Defense Fund Misappropriation
At a press conference on Monday, March 24, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dominic Ayine, provided further details on the case, revealing that Mr Adu Boahene allegedly misappropriated $7 million allocated for a cyber defense system meant to strengthen Ghana’s cybersecurity infrastructure.
According to Mr Ayine, Mr Adu Boahene signed a contract on January 30, 2020, between the Government of Ghana and Israeli firm RLC Holdings Limited to procure a cyber defense system software valued at $7 million.
However, just a week later, on February 6, 2020, he allegedly transferred an initial sum of GHS 27.1 million (approximately $5 million at the time) from the NSB’s Fidelity Bank account to a private BNC account at Universal Merchant Bank (UMB), under the guise of financing the project. The funds were then reportedly funneled into a company privately owned by Mr Adu Boahene.
Mr Adu Boahene was arrested upon arrival at Kotoka International Airport on March 20, 2025, and is currently under investigation by EOCO. His case has intensified calls for scrutiny over financial oversight within Ghana’s security sector, particularly concerning high-value contracts masked by national security secrecy.
