A former Board Member of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Yaw Odame-Darkwa, has told the High Court in Accra that the controversial Sky Train project never received approval from the GIIF Board during his tenure.
Mr Odame-Darkwa is the first prosecution witness in the $2million financial loss case involving former CEO of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, Solomon Asamoah and former Board Chair Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi. The duo are accused of disbursing money for no work done and with no board approval.
Yaw Odame-Darkwa testified that the project was only briefly introduced at one meeting but was never deliberated upon, recommended by the Investment Committee, or approved by the Board.
In his witness statement on Monday November 10, the businessman and former board member, who served from 2017 to 2020, stated that he only became aware of the alleged US$2 million payment related to the Sky Train project after reading the Auditor-General’s report.
He emphasised that “a due diligence report should have been presented to the Board before any approval for disbursement,” but no such report was ever tabled.
Odame-Darkwa further asserted that minutes purporting to show Board discussions or approvals of the Sky Train project “do not accurately reflect the Board’s deliberations or decisions.”
He maintained that throughout his service, he acted “in the best interest of the Republic of Ghana” and would not have approved any disbursement without proper due diligence.
According to him, while the GIIF Board approved funding for several legitimate infrastructure projects during his term, the Sky Train concept was never formally proposed or approved for funding.
“To the best of my recollection, the Board did not approve any funding for the Sky Train project during the period of my service,” his statement read.
