A former board member of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Yaw Odame-Darkwa, has told the High Court in Accra that the board never approved any funding for the controversial Sky Train project during his tenure.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former GIIF Board Chairman Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi and former Chief Executive Officer Solomon Asamoah, Mr Odame-Darkwa said the project was never tabled for discussion or approval at any board meeting between 2017 and 2020.
“The Investment Committee did not recommend the Sky Train project to the Board for approval,” he stated, adding that he only became aware of a $2 million payment related to the project through the Auditor-General’s report.
Led in evidence by Deputy Attorney General Dr Justice Srem-Sai, the witness insisted that standard procedure required a due diligence report to be presented to the Board before any funds could be disbursed.
Mr Odame-Darkwa told the court that although some board meeting minutes had recently surfaced referencing the Sky Train project, those documents did not accurately reflect the board’s deliberations or decisions.
“I always acted in the best interest of the Republic of Ghana and would not have approved any disbursement without proper due diligence,” he said, emphasising that records of meetings he attended would confirm his adherence to due process and national interest.
He recalled that while the GIIF Board approved funding for several legitimate infrastructure projects during his tenure, the Sky Train project was only mentioned as a concept at one meeting — without any formal proposal or request for funding.
“To be specific, there was no proposal discussed at any meeting I attended regarding the disbursement of funds to the project,” he stressed.
Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi and Solomon Asamoah are facing six charges, including wilfully causing financial loss of $2 million to the state in connection with the Sky Train project.
According to EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent Murtala Inusah, lawyers for the first accused have begun cross-examining the witness.
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