2021 Auditor-General’s report confirms Joe Ghartey’s position on Sky Train
Not long ago, the former Minister for Railways Development, Joe Ghartey, refuted claims that he authorized the payment of $2m for the defunct Accra Sky Train Project.
In his defence, he corroborated what he said had been captured in the A-G’s report of 2021.
GhanaWeb has dug up the 2021 Auditor-General’s report to identify exactly what it said in the ensuing matter.
According to the document, it has been established that the payment of US$2m for the Accra Sky Train Project was done by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, and not the Ministry of Railways Development under the then minister, Joe Ghartey.
The report, on page 193 paragraph 924, indicated that “Africa Investor Holdings Limited incorporated a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) on 11 December 2018 in the Republic of Mauritius for purposes of establishing Ghana Sky Train Limited to develop the Accra Sky Train Project through a concession on Design, Build, Finance and Operate arrangement.
“The Fund paid US$2 million on 25 February 2019 to Africa Investor Holdings Limited as full consideration for 10 ordinary shares at US$1.00 per share in AI Sky Train Consortium Holdings (the SPV).”
This is a position the former minister and now presidential candidate hopeful of the NPP, Joe Ghartey, maintains.
It is now also established, from this document, that the decision to invest in the project was taken by the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, a statutory corporation which is not under the Ministry of Railways Development.
Joe Ghartey had also earlier stated that in the third quarter of 2019, the concession agreement was signed in South Africa and the investors were supposed to come to Ghana with their technical team to complete the full feasibility and final bill of quantities in 2020 but COVID-19 and lockdowns, both in South Africa and Ghana, threw their program out of gear while he was still minister.
The Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund was established to mobilize, manage, coordinate and provide financial resources for investment in a diversified portfolio of infrastructure projects in Ghana.
It has invested over US$300m in various infrastructure projects. The Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund is not an agency or statutory body.
ghanaweb.com
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