Odame-Darkwa likens Asamoah’s Sky Train approval search to “looking for a missing cow in a hen coop”

A former board member of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Yaw Odame-Darkwa, on Monday delivered a stinging analogy in court, as he dismissed claims that the Accra Sky Train Project received board approval.

Testifying under cross-examination before an Accra High Court, presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay, the prosecution’s first witness (PW1) likened the attempts by Solomon Asamoah, former Chief Executive Officer of GIIF and first accused person, to prove board approval for the project, as “a farmer desperately searching for a missing cow in a hen coop.”

Mr Odame-Darkwa was responding to questions by Victoria Barth, counsel for Mr Asamoah, who sought to rely on internal memos and budget documents to establish that the Sky Train Project had already been approved by the GIIF board.

“Counsel is referring to a memo written by a Tier-2 management member. This document has nothing to do with project approvals,” the witness told the court.

“What one realises is that counsel is behaving like a farmer who has lost his prized cow and out of desperation, is now looking in a hen coop, when logically a cow cannot be there.”

According to the witness, for the sake of transparency and proper governance, all GIIF board decisions, whether on projects or budgets, are captured strictly in board minutes.

“If she wants approval, she should refer to the board minutes. That approval cannot be in a memo,” he stressed.

During cross-examination, counsel referred the witness to Exhibit 29A, an addendum to the 2019 budget estimates presented to the GIIF board in December 2019.

The document listed several projects described as “already board approved,” including the Accra Sky Train Project, with a projected disbursement of US$2 million for project development equity.

Mr Odame-Darkwa agreed that the Sky Train Project appeared in the table under already approved projects, but maintained that the reference did not amount to formal board approval.

“Yes, the Sky Train is mentioned there,” he admitted, “but that does not mean it was approved. Budget documents include pipeline projects as well and pipeline projects are not necessarily board-approved projects.”

He further explained that management budgets are essentially “wish lists” presented to the board and may include projections for both approved and pipeline projects.

The witness also acknowledged that when Exhibit 29A was circulated by email, neither he nor other members of the audit committee raised questions about the Sky Train being described as an approved project.

However, he said their attention at the time was focused on budgetary issues, particularly the recruitment of additional staff.

“My focus was not on projects. My focus was on the budget issues before us,” he said, adding that similar descriptions had been used for other projects, such as the fuel storage depot, which he knew had not received any financial commitment before he left GIIF.

Under further questioning, Mr Odame-Darkwa conceded that Exhibit 8, one of the board minutes tendered in evidence, appeared to be missing page four, creating a gap between agenda items.

He, however, attributed this to a possible clerical error and denied that it affected the substance of the minutes.

He admitted that, due to the voluminous nature of the documents, his review—both at the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and later in court was primarily focused on issues relating to the Sky Train Project.

Tensions rose when defence counsel suggested that Mr Odame-Darkwa had agreed to become a prosecution witness to avoid being charged himself.

Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai objected, arguing that the question was unfair and that prosecutorial discretion rests solely with the Attorney-General.

The court, however, overruled the objection and allowed the witness to answer.

“As I sit here, I don’t know why,” Mr Odame-Darkwa said, when asked why he became a prosecution witness, firmly denying that he was doing so to escape liability.

The witness confirmed that GIIF’s 2019 and 2020 financial statements were independently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Boateng, Offei & Co. and that the board accepted the audit reports without query.

However, he said he was not aware whether the auditors raised concerns about the Sky Train Project lacking board approval, insisting he would need to see the auditors’ specific terms of reference before commenting.

The trial, which centres on whether the Accra Sky Train Project received proper board approval before funds were disbursed, continues at the High Court today.

 

 

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