Former member of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) Board, Yaw Odame-Darkwa has testified before the High Court in Accra that the contentious Sky Train initiative was never sanctioned by the Board during his time in office.
Odame-Darkwa appeared as the lead prosecution witness in the ongoing $2 million financial loss trial involving former GIIF Chief Executive Officer Solomon Asamoah and ex-Board Chairman Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi. The two are facing allegations of authorizing payments without Board consent and for work that was allegedly never executed.
In his testimony, Odame-Darkwa revealed that the Sky Train proposal was mentioned briefly in a single meeting but was never subjected to thorough discussion, endorsed by the Investment Committee, or formally approved by the Board.
Submitting his witness statement on Monday, November 10, the businessman—who served on the GIIF Board from 2017 to 2020—said he only learned of the purported $2 million disbursement connected to the project through the Auditor-General’s report.
He stressed that “a due diligence report should have been presented to the Board before any approval for disbursement,” noting that no such documentation was ever brought forward.
Odame-Darkwa also challenged the authenticity of meeting minutes that suggest the Board had deliberated or approved the Sky Train project, stating they “do not accurately reflect the Board’s deliberations or decisions.”
He affirmed that during his tenure, he consistently acted “in the best interest of the Republic of Ghana” and would not have endorsed any financial commitment without rigorous due diligence.
While acknowledging that the GIIF Board approved funding for several credible infrastructure ventures during his time, he insisted that the Sky Train proposal was never officially tabled or authorized.
“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 concluded.
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