GIIF Case: AG’s Witness Skips Court After Defence Showdown

The first prosecution witness of the Attorney General, Yaw Odame-Darkwa, in the ongoing trial of Solomon Asamoah and Professor Ameyaw Akumfi (Sky Train Case), has skipped court today, Tuesday, 16 December 2025, after he (Yaw Odame-Darkwa) embarrassed himself and the prosecution in court during the sitting yesterday, Monday, 15 December 2025.

State prosecutors told the High Court that their witness had called to inform them that he was too ill to attend the hearing and was therefore requesting an adjournment. The High Court, presided over by Justice Audrey Kokuvie-Tay, obliged and adjourned the sitting to Wednesday, 14 January 2026.

Today’s hearing would have been the 5th day of cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, Yaw Odame-Darkwa, by Victoria Barth Esq., lawyer for the first accused, Solomon Asamoah.

In the last four sittings of the court, the prosecution witness has been subjected to a range of questions that have refuted his claims in the Attorney General’s witness statement filed in court.

Day One of Cross-Examination

At the first hearing on 10 November 2025, the lawyer representing the first accused person accused the first prosecution witness of the State of ignoring details, giving two examples: firstly that the witness had signed his witness statement despite his name being incorrectly spelled and secondly stating that he read Law and Sociology at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the presiding judge, Justice Audrey Kokuvi-Tay, had to correct him, stating that he (Yaw Odame-Darkwa) read social science..

Day Two of Cross-Examination

The prosecution witness at the 2nd hearing on Wednesday, 12 November 2025, told the High Court that the Sky Train project was discussed at least in 8 separate meetings of the board of directors of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).

This admission, however, was in direct contradiction to what he said in his witness statement, where he had stated:

“During my tenure, the Board approved funding for several infrastructure projects. I wish to state that the Sky Train concept was only introduced at one of our Board meetings.

“The Board did not receive any substantive proposal on the Sky Train project, and hence we did not deliberate or take any decision on the project. Additionally, the Investment Committee did not recommend the Sky Project to the Board for approval. To the best of my knowledge, the Sky Train project has not been tabled for consideration at any Board Meeting.”

However, under cross-examination, the lawyer for the first accused person, Victoria Berth Esq., showed him signed minutes from at least eight separate Board meetings in which Skytrain was discussed, which he conceded were authentic and therefore inconsistent with his signed witness statement.

Day Three of Cross-Examination

On Wednesday, 10 December 2025, the 3rd sitting, the High Court ordered the first prosecution to retrieve and produce approximately 16 emails he had received from the former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Solomon Asamoah, to the Court at its next sitting on Tuesday, 16 December 2025.

The Court made the order after the defence lawyer (lawyer for the 1st accused), Victoria Barth Esq., sought to confirm from the prosecution witness, Odame-Darkwa, if he indeed received those emails that pertained to the Sky Train project from the CEO, Mr. Solomon Asamoah, when he served as a member of the board of directors of GIIF.

Ms. Victoria Barth requested that the prosecution witness retrieve the emails from his smartphone, which he had brought to court, since the email addresses were “Yahoo” and “Gmail” accounts that could easily be accessed on a smartphone or laptop with internet provided by the court.

However, Mr. Odame-Darkwa indicated in Court that, in this age of AI (Artificial Intelligence), anything is possible, and he is more comfortable retrieving the emails on his own computer and via his own internet access point, rather than from any other source. The judge gave him leave to retrieve these emails and produce them at the next sitting.

Day Four of Cross-Examination

Mr Yaw Odame-Darkwa confirmed the authenticity of the emails and that they were still on his system.

Mr Yaw Odame-Darkwa then made a startling admission in court on Monday, 15 December 2025, the 4th day of cross-examination, that some of the issues contained in his witness statement in the trial of the former Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman of the Fund were based on his recollection of events rather than on GIIF’s official company documents, even though it has been now proved they were always in his possession.

At the end of the session, Victoria Barth, counsel for Solomon Asamoah, provided him with an additional 17 emails, including attachments, related to the Board meeting at which the project was approved and to subsequent updates the CEO supplied to the Board. He was to return to court the next day to confirm or deny their authenticity.

Day Five of Cross-Examination (today, 16 December, 2025)
The witness failed to appear. The judge has adjourned the case until 14 January 2026.
Background
In 2019, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) invested US$2 million for a 10% stake in Africa Investor Skytrain Consortium Holdings (“Ai Skytrain”), the company developing Accra’s Skytrain light railway project.
The Africa Investor Group (the “Sponsors”) was selected and granted the rights to develop the project by the Government of Ghana (“GoG”) through the Ministry of Railways Development (“MORD”).
At the time, the Chairman of GIIF was Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was Mr Solomon Asamoah. The Chairman had previously been a member of the GoG. Mr. Asamoah was an international development banker who had been head-hunted into the position from a UK recruitment agency.
Following a change of government in Ghana in December 2024, the GoG, through the office of the Attorney General of Ghana, now alleges that this action was taken without Board approval, resulting in a willful financial loss to the state, as there is as yet “no railway built”.
It should be noted that there are no allegations of personal gain or diversion of funds in the charges, and the state has not charged anyone from MORD or the GoG-selected sponsors; only the GIIF Chairman and CEO have been charged.
The state witnesses who initially faced charges of causing financial loss to the state themselves dropped these charges after stating they did not approve the project, casting significant doubt on the reliability of their statements.
The prosecution’s case is built almost entirely on these statements to show that a legitimate transaction was “unauthorized, without which there would be no case to answer.
“The prosecution’s case appears to be politically motivated, intended to fulfill a campaign promise to prosecute members of the previous government. It is unsupported by the facts, relying on demonstrably false witness statements,” a lawyer familiar with the case stated on condition of anonymity.