The second prosecution witness in the SkyTrain trial, Kofi Boakye has told the court that the Board of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) did not give final approval for the Accra SkyTrain project.

Testifying under cross-examination by Victoria Barth, Mr Boakye said that although the Board indicated an intention to participate, no recommendations were obtained from the investment committee, and no final Board approval was issued.

He made the comments during the trial of Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, former Board Chairman of GIIF, and Mr Solomon Asamoah, former Chief Executive Officer of GIIF.

Both men face charges of wilfully causing financial loss to the State, intentional dissipation of public funds, and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Referring to Board meetings held on September 5, 2018, and November 19, 2019, Mr Boakye said that while some procedural steps were taken, the process never concluded with final approval.

Mrs Barth questioned the witness about his understanding of “approval,” highlighting portions of his statement where he said, “the board did not approve the Sky Train project” and “the board did not approve the $2 million payment.”

In response, Mr Boakye emphasised that approvals at GIIF follow detailed procedures involving multiple committees and recommendations before the Board grants sanction.

He also rejected suggestions that all requested project documents had been presented to Board members, saying that key documents, including the memorandum of understanding (MoU) and concession agreements, were not tabled at Board meetings and were only reviewed later during interrogation by the National Intelligence Bureau.

Mr Boakye further told the court that Ghana Sky Train Limited had been incorporated by the Chief Executive Officer without the Board’s knowledge, reiterating that the Board had not approved the project.

The cross-examination also examined AI Sky Train Consortium Holdings, which holds 510,000 shares in Ghana Sky Train Limited, and noted the absence of Board representation in the special purpose vehicle, contrary to GIIF’s usual practice of appointing Board members to entities in which it holds equity stakes.

Mr Boakye asked for time to review certain documents to complete his responses, after which the court adjourned proceedings to a later date.

The Accra SkyTrain project was planned as an elevated light rail system intended to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution in Accra.

In 2018, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with the AiSky Train Consortium of South Africa.

Following a feasibility study, both parties in November 2019 signed a Build-Operate-Transfer concession agreement to develop the system at an estimated cost of $2.6 billion, with a projected capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour per direction.

Meanwhile, former Railways Development Minister, Joe Ghartey, blamed the New Patriotic Party government’s failure to fulfil its promise of constructing sky trains in Accra on external factors, particularly financial constraints.

The Essikado-Ketan lawmaker stated that the project, which was expected to ease traffic congestion in the capital, stalled after the details of the contract and the overall cost were disclosed.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Ghartey explained that the Railway Ministry’s allocation for the 2018 fiscal year was far below the projected cost of the contract.

“We were approached by South Africans who said they could build the sky trains on a BOT [Build, Operate, Transfer] basis, and the amount of money that they were talking about per kilometer, we did not have it in the budget. What I had been given was a limit of $2 billion and that was supposed to be used for the Tema-Mpakadan railway line and the Western railway line.”

He further noted that the number of years the South African contractor and investors proposed to operate the trains before handing them over to the state discouraged continued negotiations.

“So these people came in 2018 and said they would build the sky trains on the build, operate and transfer basis, and so we signed an MoU with them, and they came back after doing some initial studies and said they are in a position to raise money for the project, and so we should sign a concessional agreement for the trains to be transferred to us after 30 years and that was something we had to look into.”

Mr. Ghartey also explained that the government needed to conduct comprehensive feasibility studies to determine the viability of the project, but this process was disrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19, which prevented the South African firm from travelling to carry out the studies.

“In 2019 and 2020, the world including South Africa was under lockdown, so these people could not come to do the feasibility studies and that is why I decided to focus on the railway and kept the sky trains on hold.”

The Government of Ghana signed an agreement with the South African group, Africa Investment (Ai) SkyTrain Consortium, in November 2018 for the development of the Accra Sky Train Project.

Under the agreement, the consortium was expected to complete extensive feasibility studies within nine months and begin construction by 2020. However, five years later, the project had not commenced.

It later emerged that the US$2 million paid by Ghana in 2019 as a premium to acquire ordinary shares for the project resulted in a net liability.

This was contained in a report by the Auditor General on the Public Accounts of Ghana’s Public Boards, Corporations and other Statutory Institutions for the period ended December 31, 2021.

The report revealed that Africa Investor Holdings Limited incorporated a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Mauritius to establish Ghana Sky Train Limited for the development of the project under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate concession arrangement.

According to the Auditor General, 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.

This meant that a premium of US$199,999 was paid on each share.

The SPV reported a net liability as of December 31, 2020.

The Auditor General warned that the investment in the SPV could not be recovered if the Accra Sky Train Project failed to obtain the required licences and both Executive and Parliamentary approvals.

“We urged Management to continue to monitor the feasibility and the recoverability of the investment in the SPV and make the necessary provisions based on the outcome of the feasibility studies. Management noted the recommendation for compliance”, the audit report recommended.