Former Minister for Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, who in November 2018, signed an agreement with a South African consortium for the construction of the Accra Sky Train Project, has escaped criminal charges, following a probe into the controversial US$2 million payment made towards the defunct initiative.
The Office of the Attorney General, yesterday filed charges against two former officials—Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, a former Minister of Education, and Solomon Asamoah, former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), over their roles in the failed Sky Train project.
Mr Ghartey, who had publicly championed the project, was not listed among the accused.
The charges come after Attorney General, Dr Dominic Akuritinga Ayine, announced that the state had concluded investigations and would proceed with prosecutions.
He revealed that, the US$2 million payment made by GIIF was unauthorised and only known to Asamoah and Ameyaw-Akumfi.
“In respect of the Sky Train matter, we have completed investigations and will be filing charges,” Dr Ayine stated during a press briefing.
“We have established that the US$2 million paid by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund was done without board approval. The only persons who knew and acted on the payment were the former CEO, Mr Solomon Asamoah, and the former Board Chairman, Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi. Both will be charged.”
He added that, several board members, had offered to testify as witnesses for the prosecution, and their cooperation was under consideration.
Both men face multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit a crime, wilfully causing financial loss to the Republic, and intentional dissipation of public funds. They are accused of transferring the funds from GIIF accounts to Africa Investor Holdings Limited without authorisation for the purpose of financing the Sky Train project.
The prosecution contends that due diligence was not carried out, and no board approval was obtained before the transaction. Furthermore, the accused persons failed to secure the promised 10percent equity stake in the project for GIIF.
Solomon Asamoah, the first accused, was arraigned in court yesterday. He was granted bail in the sum of GHS 15 million with two sureties, justified with landed property in Accra.
He is required to report to investigators three times a week. His co-accused, Prof Ameyaw-Akumfi, was absent due to undergoing surgery.
The case has been adjourned to May 20, 2025.
Mr Joe Ghartey, signed the agreement for Ghana on the sidelines of the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2018.
He emphasised that the Sky Train Project was the solution to the ever-increasing road traffic congestion in Accra, with its detrimental effects on economic activity, pollution and the quality of life.
“There is confidence in the project. The promoters (Ai SkyTrain Consortium) are very serious, and that is why we invited the President, himself, to witness the signing. This should assure the investors that the Government is solidly behind it. The economics of this project are also good. We are very excited about the prospects,” he said.
“Today, we have signed an MoU, which will last nine months, where they (Ai SkyTrain Consortium) can do their feasibility into detail. After which we have given ourselves 45 days to take our concessionary agreements for approval by Cabinet and also by Parliament. By January 2020, we should start the construction of the project,” Mr Ghartey said.
“We are exceptionally excited also by the fact that a lot of the construction works will be done in Ghana. It will create a lot of jobs in Ghana, because the fabrication and construction will all be done in Ghana.”
South Africa’s Deputy Minister for Transport, Sindisiwe Lydia Chikunga, who was present at the signing ceremony, stated that: “we are very excited, and we hope that, in due time, we will witness the construction in 2020. We wish you all the best in the feasibility period.”
The project also received strong public endorsement from the then-President Nana Akufo-Addo, who described the Sky Train initiative as “a very efficient solution” to the capital’s urban transport challenges. He hailed it as a model of intra-African cooperation between Ghana and South Africa.
Nana Akufo-Addo stated that after the deterioration of Ghana’s rail infrastructure over the years, it had become a priority of his government “to rehabilitate, revive and expand, and get us a railway infrastructure that is fit for purpose.”
He said the project “is a good example of intra-Africa co-operation. It is Ghana-South Africa co-operation, meeting and coming together to deal with the problem of urbanisation, which is facing all our countries.”
President Akufo-Addo said Accra, with a population of some 250,000 at independence, now had six million people, and the Accra SkyTrain Project, he added, “is a very, very efficient solution to it. I am happy that is the result of the cooperation between our two countries.”
He assured the Consortium of the commitment of Government to “manage the country well, give the country good governance, and provide a strong macro-economy, so that those who bring their money into Ghana are protected in terms of the rules of the game, and are also protected by the level of the economic environment.”
The African Investment SkyTrain Consortium is made up Wilson Bayly Holmes, a construction engineering company in South Africa; BUNENGI Group, a project development company focused on developing projects in infrastructure; and Ai Capital, the investment and financing arm of the Ai Group, one of the most in influential international investment banking advisory groups focused on Africa.
Mr Joe Ghartey, who signed the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ai SkyTrain Consortium at the Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg in 2018, promoted the project as a transformative solution to Accra’s growing traffic congestion, promising local job creation and technological transfer.
“There is confidence in the project. The promoters are very serious, and that is why we invited the President himself to witness the signing,” Mr Ghartey said at the time. “The economics of this project are good. We are very excited about the prospects.”
According to Mr Ghartey, the MoU would allow the consortium nine months to complete feasibility studies, followed by a 45-day period to secure cabinet and parliamentary approval for the concession agreement, with construction expected to commence by January 2020.
The Ai SkyTrain Consortium comprises South African construction firm Wilson Bayly Holmes, infrastructure project developer BUNENGI Group, and Ai Capital—the investment arm of the Ai Group, an influential advisory firm focused on Africa.
However, the Sky Train project, failed to materialise, despite the release of public funds, raising questions over accountability and due process—issues that have now culminated in this high-profile legal action.