The second prosecution witness of the State in the case of the Republic vrs. Solomon Asamoah and Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi has told the High Court hearing the case that the advisory committee of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), made up of the Minister for Finance, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, and the Director General of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), never queried the sky train project.
Mr. Kofi Boakye, the prosecution witness and former GIIF Acting Board Secretary, made the assertion while under cross-examination by lawyer for the second accused person, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi. Lawyer Kwame Acheampong Boafo sought to know from the witness whether, as a diligent member of the GIIF board who accompanied the Board Chairman to the meetings with the advisory committee, he had raised any concerns about the approval of the sky train project.
Advisory Committee
The former GIIF board secretary, Kofi Boakye, in his answer, indicated in court that, to the best of his recollection, the advisory committee never had any issues with the sky train project, nor did they raise any concerns about the viability of the project.
Question: “Are you aware that under the GIIF Act, there is an advisory committee?”
Answer: “Yes, we do have an advisory committee made up of the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the Director General of NDPC, two other persons from the private sector, one of whom is a woman.”
Question: “To your knowledge, during your tenure at the Board, at no material time did the advisory committee raise any issue in relation to the AI Sky Train Project, is that correct?”
Answer: “No, my lady, they did not.”
Question: “And you know that it is the requirement under law that GIIF sends a yearly report to the Ministry of Finance.”
Answer: “Yes, by law, GIIF is mandated to do that.”
Probing further into the advisory committee issues, Lawyer Kwame Acheampong Boafo sought to confirm whether the witness had ever accompanied the board chairman of GIIF to any meetings with the advisory committee and whether the required annual reports had been submitted to it.
Question: “During your tenure as Acting Secretary, you accompanied A2 (Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi) to meetings of the advisory committee. Is that correct?”
Answer: “That is correct.”
Question: “And at these meetings, yearly reports submitted to the advisory committee were discussed, and if there were any issues, they were raised?”
Answer: “Not always.”
Question: “At no material time that you appeared with A2 (Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi) before the advisory committee, did you raise any issues regarding the non-approval of the AI Sky Train Project by the Board, isn’t that correct?”
Answer: “I do not recollect the members of the advisory committee having a discussion or deliberating on GIIF’s participation in the Accra Sky Train Development Project.”
Auditor-General
During the cross-examination, the lawyer for the 2nd accused person also sought to confirm from the prosecution witness whether the Auditor-General of the Republic had raised any issues with the Sky Train Project, particularly in the 2019 and 2020 audited financial reports.
The prosecution witness, while admitting that the Auditor-General had no issues with the Sky Train Project, noted that the Auditor-General “erroneously” stated in his report that the Sky Train Project was an approved project of GIIF.
Question: The Auditor General never raised any query in his report during your tenure as a Board Member of GIIF, specifically that the Ai Sky Train Project is not an approved project
Answer: The Auditor General, in its Audit Report for the years 2019 and 2020, erroneously stated that the Sky Train Project was an approved project.
“I say erroneously because the Audit is a function between management and the team of Auditors. Only upon completion of the audit is a report sent to the Board. It is at that stage that the Board may accept statements or findings made in the audit report.”
Next Sitting
After posing these questions, the lawyer for the second accused ended his cross-examination of the second prosecution witness. The state prosecutor declined to conduct any re-examination, thereby leading the court to discharge the witness. The court will reconstitute on Monday, 16 March 2026, and the State is expected to call its third prosecution witness.
Background
In 2019, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) invested US$2 million for a 10% stake in Africa Investor Skytrain Consortium Holdings (“Ai Skytrain”), the company developing Accra’s Skytrain light Railway Project.
The Africa Investor Group (the “Sponsors”) was selected and granted the rights to develop the project by the Government of Ghana (“GoG”) through the Ministry of Railways Development (“MORD”).
At the time, the Chairman of GIIF was Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was Mr Solomon Asamoah. The Chairman had previously been a member of the GoG. Mr. Asamoah was an international development banker who had been headhunted for the position by a UK recruitment agency.
Following a change of government in Ghana in December 2024, the GoG, through the office of the Attorney General of Ghana, now alleges that this action was taken without Board approval, resulting in a willful financial loss to the state, as there is as yet “no railway built”.
It should be noted that there are no allegations of personal gain or diversion of funds in the charges, and the state has not charged anyone from MORD or the GoG-selected sponsors; only the GIIF Chairman and CEO have been charged.
The state witnesses who initially faced charges of causing financial loss to the state themselves dropped these charges after stating they did not approve the project, casting significant doubt on the reliability of their statements.
The prosecution’s case is built almost entirely on these statements to show that a legitimate transaction was “unauthorized”, without which there would be no case to answer.
“The prosecution’s case appears to be politically motivated, intended to fulfill a campaign promise to prosecute members of the previous government. It is unsupported by the facts, relying on demonstrably false witness statements,” a lawyer familiar with the case stated on condition of anonymity.
