Produce signed GIIF board minutes-Court orders ex-secretary in Sky Train case

A High Court in Accra has directed Kofi Boakye, a former GIIF board member and Acting Secretary, to produce the signed minutes of the Fund’s March 13, 2019 board meeting if he can locate them.

The order came after lawyers for former GIIF CEO Solomon Asamoah asked the court to compel the witness to bring the document, arguing that a later set of minutes refers to the March 13 minutes, yet the prosecution did not disclose that record.

During earlier questioning, defence counsel Victoria Barth had established that Boakye submitted minutes for GIIF board meetings during his time as board secretary, and the witness indicated he might be able to produce the March 13, 2019 minutes if given the chance.

Barth insisted the full minutes matter because, in her view, the prosecution’s case rests heavily on the claim that GIIF’s board never approved the Sky Train investment. She argued that since excerpts of the March 13 minutes appear in another minute, the court should see the complete document, especially as investigators reportedly focused on board minutes between September 2018 and December 2020, a period that includes March 13, 2019.

Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai opposed the request, saying the defence was turning the proceedings into a “fishing expedition.” He argued disclosure rules are not meant to support wide-ranging requests in the hope that something helpful turns up.

He also contended the minutes—draft or approved—would be available to the accused and could be sourced through legitimate channels, so it was not the witness’s role to supply them.

Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay rejected the objection and granted the request, directing the witness to produce the approved minutes if he is able to find them.

After the ruling, the questioning centred on whether the GIIF Board approved the Sky Train project.

The witness maintained the project was not recommended to the board by the Finance and Investment Committee (IC).

Defence counsel challenged him with minutes and communications describing the project as “following approval by the board.”

He was also confronted with an email trail circulated to board members describing the project as board-approved, and he acknowledged he did not reply to dispute that description. He added, however, that he did not see the point of debating facts on email threads because, in his view, board decisions are captured in board minutes.

The case has been adjourned to February 19 for further cross-examination.

In 2019, GIIF invested US$2 million for a 10% stake in Africa Investor Skytrain Consortium Holdings (Ai Skytrain), linked to Accra’s Sky Train light railway proposal.

The Africa Investor Group had been selected by the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Railways Development.

At the time, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi chaired GIIF’s board and Solomon Asamoah was CEO.

Following a change of government in December 2024, the Attorney-General’s office has alleged the investment was made without board approval, and has charged the former chairman and CEO. The narrative in court has also included that no railway has yet been built, and the charges, as described, do not allege personal gain or diversion of funds.