The Attorney General’s Office has formally filed charges against former Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) CEO Solomon Asamoah and ex-board chairman Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Ekumfi for their roles in the controversial Accra Sky Train project.
The deal is said to have allegedly cost the state $2 million without authorisation.
The charges, filed today at the High Court (Criminal Division), include wilfully causing financial loss to the state under the Criminal Offences Act, conspiracy to commit crime through intentional dissipation of public funds, and intentional dissipation of public funds under the Public Property Protection Decree.
The prosecution is alleging that in February 2019, the accused authorised a $2 million payment from GIIF to Africa Investor Holdings Limited for preliminary work on the Sky Train project – a system that was never built. The payment was reportedly made without proper board approval.
Dr Dominic Ayine, the Attorney General, noted that the accused acted outside their mandate, causing significant financial harm to the state. “The payment was unauthorised, and the project never materialised. This is a clear case of financial misconduct”.
It has also emerged that some GIIF board members have agreed to testify as prosecution witnesses.
The Sky Train project was initiated in 2018 as a public-private partnership for an urban rail system in Accra.
It involved a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Railways Development, Africa Investor Holdings, and GIIF.
However, the $2 million disbursement was done without proper due diligence and violated GIIF’s governance protocols.
Background
The auditor general in 2022, through an audited report, revealed that an amount of US$2 million which Ghana paid in 2019 as a premium to acquire ordinary shares for the development of the Accra Sky Train Project was reported as a net liability.
The report covered the public accounts of Ghana’s public boards, corporations, and other statutory institutions for the period ending December 31, 2021.
The report disclosed that Africa Investor Holdings Limited incorporated a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Mauritius to establish Ghana Sky Train Limited and develop the Accra Sky Train Project through a concession on a Design, Build, Finance, and Operate arrangement.
It also emerged that the Government of Ghana, through the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, paid US$2 million to Africa Investor Holdings Limited as full consideration for 10 ordinary shares at US$1.00 per share in Ai Sky Train Consortium Holdings (the SPV).
Thus, the premium paid for each share was US$199,999.
The previous Nana Addo-led administration signed the Concession Agreement for the construction of the Accra SkyTrain Project in November 2019.
The initiative was to provide for the development of five routes, four of which were to be comprised of radial routes that would have originated at the proposed SkyTrain Terminal, at the heart of Accra, at a newly developed Kwame Nkrumah circle, and one route that would have provided an intra-city commuter loop distribution service.
The project envisaged a total track length across all routes of 194 kilometres.
It was expected to ease the increasing road traffic congestion in Accra and boost economic activities in the capital city, Accra.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
