Lawyers for former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Solomon Asamoah, have challenged claims that the Fund’s Board only approved projects after due diligence, pointing to Board records showing that some investments were approved outright while others were rejected specifically because due diligence had not been done.
The issue arose during the cross-examination of Yaw Odame-Darkwa, a former GIIF Board member and the prosecution’s first witness, in the ongoing trial over the alleged unauthorised disbursement of US$2 million for the Accra Sky Train project.
Odame-Darkwa told the court that GIIF operated a structured approval process, insisting that due diligence by independent consultants was the key indicator of Board approval.
According to him, projects discussed at Board or Investment Committee meetings remained in the “pipeline” until that process was completed.
However, counsel for Asamoah, Victoria Barth, put it to the witness that GIIF’s own minutes showed that approvals were not always made subject to due diligence.
She cited the Platinum Plaza project, where the Board granted a conditional approval for an additional US$10 million investment, expressly stating that the approval was subject to due diligence. Odame-Darkwa agreed this was an example where the Board clearly tied approval to the completion of due diligence.
Barth then contrasted that with the Board’s approval of a US$1 million investment in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which the minutes show was granted without any due diligence condition. The witness conceded that, on the face of the minutes, the approval appeared unconditional.
Explaining this, Odame-Darkwa said the AIIB was a well-established and credible multilateral development finance institution, comparable to the African Development Bank, and that the request for the investment came from the Ministry of Finance. He told the court that the Board generally took comfort in the institution’s reputation and the Ministry’s involvement.
The defence pushed back on that explanation, reminding the witness that GIIF Board members owed fiduciary duties under the GIIF Act and were required to exercise independent judgment.
Odame-Darkwa agreed that the Board had the authority to refuse a request from the Ministry of Finance if it considered it inappropriate.
The defence further pointed to the Crown Safari project, where the Board declined to grant approval and deferred the investment specifically because due diligence had not been conducted.
Odame-Darkwa confirmed that the absence of due diligence was the reason the project was not approved.
The trial, which involves Solomon Asamoah and former GIIF Board Chair Prof. Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi, has been adjourned to January 22 for continuation.
