Minority demands repayment of $2 million for ‘failed’ Accra Sky Train Project

Ranking Member on Roads and Transport Committee inParliament, Governs Kwame Agbodza has called for the repayment of $2 million that was paid in 2019 as a premium for the Accra Sky Train Project.

This demand comes after the Auditor General’s 2021 report categorized the transaction as a net liability.

The payment was made through the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund’s acquisition of 10 ordinary shares in the Ai Sky Train Consortium Holdings.

The Ranking Member on Roads and Transport Committee, Governs Kwame Agbodza, emphasized the need for the amount to be returned to the government.

“when you have a situation where the minister then says in 2023, now that he always believed that before the project takes off, that should be a cabinet approval, there should be a parliamentary approval, PPA approval, since none of these things were approved – In fact, the Auditor General’s report suggested that the company did not even have the necessary license to operate the system they wanted to operate?” Governs Kwame Agbodza said.

He highlighted the involvement of Dr.Mahamudu Bawumia, the chairman of the economic management team, and criticized the absence of transparency and adherence to procurement protocols.

“So the question is, what was the reason for the government to act in a way to give our $2 million? Who actually took the decision to pay this entity in Mauritius was Dr. Bawumia, the chairman of the economic management team, they call him the strategist now – aware that without any recourse to public financial management or the Public Procurement Act, it was wrong for any government entity to pay that kind of amount?” he told journalists in parliament.

The Accra Sky Train Project, announced by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in 2017, faced scrutiny regarding its risk management and policy drafting.

However, recent statements from the Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu, cast doubt on the project’s implementation, citing financial constraints and the unlikelihood of its realization in the next few years.