Accra, March 3, – Mr Kofi Boakye, the second prosecution witness in the SkyTrain trial, has told the court that the Board of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) did not grant final approval for the Accra SkyTrain project.
Under cross-examination by Mrs Victoria Barth, counsel for the defence, Mr Boakye maintained that although the Board expressed an intention to participate in the project, no recommendation was secured from the Investment Committee and no final Board approval was granted.
The trial involves Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, former Board Chairman of GIIF, and Mr Solomon Asamoah, former Chief Executive Officer of GIIF. The two are facing charges of wilfully causing financial loss to the State, intentional dissipation of public funds, and conspiracy to commit crime.
Mr Boakye referred to Board meetings held on September 5, 2018, and November 19, 2019, stating that while certain procedural steps were undertaken, the approval process was not completed in accordance with GIIF’s internal governance framework.
When pressed on the meaning of “approval,” he stood by his witness statement that “the board did not approve the Sky Train project” and “the board did not approve the $2 million payment.” He explained that GIIF approvals require a structured process involving committee reviews and formal Board sanction before funds can be committed.
The witness further disputed claims that all relevant project documentation had been presented to the Board. He told the court that key documents, including the memorandum of understanding and concession agreements, were not tabled at Board meetings and were only seen later during interrogation by the National Intelligence Bureau.
He also testified that Ghana Sky Train Limited was incorporated by the Chief Executive Officer without the Board’s knowledge. Additionally, he pointed to the shareholding structure involving AI Sky Train Consortium Holdings, which holds 510,000 shares in Ghana Sky Train Limited, noting the absence of GIIF Board representation in the special purpose vehicle — a departure from the Fund’s usual equity governance practice.
The court granted the witness time to review certain documents to complete his testimony and adjourned proceedings to a later date.
The proposed Accra SkyTrain was conceived as an elevated light rail system to ease congestion and reduce air pollution in the capital. In 2018, Government signed a memorandum of understanding with the AiSky Train Consortium of South Africa, followed by a Build-Operate-Transfer concession agreement in November 2019 for a project estimated at US$2.6 billion, with a projected capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour per direction.
GHBUSS
3 March 2026
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