Yaw Odame-Darkwa
A former member of the board of governors of Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Yaw Odame-Darkwa, made a startling admission in court yesterday that some of the issues contained in his witness statement in the trial of former Chief Executive Officer and Board Chairman of the Fund, were based on his recollection of events and not based on company documents.
The witness had indicated in his evidence-in-chief that the Investment Committee (IC) did not recommend the Accra Sky Train project to the board and that the issue came up at only meeting of the board.
But when he was confronted with several email correspondences that mentioned the projects, with particular reference to the committee’s meeting on September 28, 2018, the witness said “I need to refresh my memory.”
When asked whether he refreshed his memory about the said meeting when he gave his statement to the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) before making those categorial statements, he admitted “I didn’t.”
“Did you refresh your memory of the minutes and committee pacts of September 31, 2018, of the IC meeting before writing your statements at the NIB?” Voctoria Barth, counsel for Solomon Asamoah, quizzed.
“The answer is both yes and no,” the witness answered. “In the course of the interrogation, sometimes we were given some minutes to refresh our memory. At the time I was writing my statement, I didn’t have the luxury of having all the documents around me, so I had to rely on some of the issues that were readily in my mind. It was based on that I wrote my statements,” Yaw Odame Darkwa added.
Former Chief Executive Officer of GIIF, Solomon Asamoah and the erstwhile Board Chairman of the Fund, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi have been charged before a High Court in Accra for their alleged involvement in unapproved $2 million investment in the Accra Sky Train project, which allegedly resulted in financial loss to the state.
The prosecution’s first witness, Yaw Odame-Darkwa’s main evidence is that there was no board approval for the investment and that the project did not go through routine board scrutiny as it was mentioned only ones.
But counsel for the accused have since mounted a relentless defence, with lawyers for Mr. Asamoah tendering several email correspondences and board minutes that actually referenced the project.
For instance, the July 31, 2018 minutes of the Investment and Finance Committee states that “Members expressed support for the project as it had the potential over facilitating speedily passengers from one end of the city to the other. This, it was anticipated, would facilitate business activities. Members also noted the need to consider in further details this project so a sound decision as regards GIIF’s participation could be made and recommendation made to the board.”
The witness, who was part of the said meeting, confirmed that this was indeed captured in the said minutes.
Madam Barth then confronted the witness that because he could not remember whether the Investment Committee meeting scheduled for September 28, 2018 took place, he was not “in a position to make a categorical statement that the IC did not recommend the Sky Train project to the board of GIIF.”
The witness agreed and said “What is in my witness statement is what I recollected.”
“So, apart from the board minutes that you used to refresh your memory at the NIB, everything you said about IC committee decisions was purely based on your memory,” the lawyer further pressed and the witness said “Yes.”
Meanwhile, the defence has given copies of another batch of email exchanges between the board members and the company secretary between 2018 and 2020 in respect of board meetings and minutes to the prosecution, for the witness to review and answer questions on same today when the trial resumes.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak