The High Court has dismissed a submission of no case filed by former Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) Chief Executive Officer Solomon Asamoah and former GIIF Board Chairman Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi in the ongoing Sky Train trial, paving the way for the two accused persons to open their defence.
The development was disclosed by the Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Justice Srem-Sai, in a Facebook post on Thursday, July 2.
According to him, the two accused persons had argued before the court that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence to establish a case against them and therefore should not be called upon to defend themselves.
However, after considering the evidence presented by the prosecution, the court rejected their submission.
“A while ago, the High Court dismissed the submissions of the two Accused Persons in the case of The Republic v Solomon Asamoah & Prof Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi,” Justice Srem-Sai wrote.
“The two gentlemen made a submission that the Republic has not provided enough evidence to the Court. The Court has since directed them to open their defence and give reasons why they should not be convicted for causing US$2 million loss to the nation.”
The case, officially titled Republic v Solomon Asamoah & Another and widely known as the Sky Train case, relates to a US$2 million payment made by GIIF in 2019 for an equity stake in a project development company linked to the proposed Accra Sky Train project.
Prosecutors contend that the payment was made without the necessary board approval and that the rail transport project never materialised, resulting in a financial loss to the state and the dissipation of public funds.
With the dismissal of the no-case submission, the court has ruled that the prosecution has established sufficient evidence for the trial to proceed, requiring the accused persons to respond to the allegations.
Justice Srem-Sai also praised the efforts of the prosecution team and investigators involved in the case.
He expressed gratitude to the State Attorneys and investigators from the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), formerly the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), for their work throughout the proceedings.
“Gratitude to our team of State Attorneys and BNI investigators who have worked tirelessly in the past months to make this possible,” he stated.
The trial is expected to continue with the defence case as Mr. Asamoah and Prof. Ameyaw-Akumfi seek to challenge the allegations against them.
