The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Member of Parliament for Sefwi Akontombra, Alex Tetteh Djournobuah, has backed the call by the Minority caucus in parliament for a refund of some $2 million paid in 2019 as a premium to acquire ordinary shares for the development of the botched Accra Sky Train Project.
According to him, in 2021 the Transport Committee of Parliament was briefed about the commencement of the project. However, there has been no new development since that event.
This he said, makes it important that the Ai Sky Train Consortium Holdings refunds the money to the State.
Speaking on JoyFM’s Top Story he said, “For once, let me actually say that I support the call of the Minority for sky train to refund the money to that state.”
In December 2021, a report of the Attorney General revealed that the government spent some $2 million on the Sky Train project which was still at the draft stage.
The Attorney General said it had already advised the management of the Fund to take steps towards “finalisation and approval of the risk management policy by the Governing Board for implementation.”
However, two years down the lane, nothing has been done to retrieve the money.
When asked by the host, Evans Mensah if the government will take the necessary steps to retrieve the money, he explained that once the Attorney General has requested that the money be refunded, something would be done about it.
“I think that the state authorities and the ministries should make sure that the appropriate quarters refund the money to the state, “ he said.
Again, when asked if he agreed with the minority that other sanctions must be applied after the state retrieves the money, he said “Yes, I believe that after receiving the money, the appropriate authorities should face the sanction.”
Background
In 2018, Africa Investor Holdings Limited incorporated a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Mauritius to establish the Ghana Sky Train Limited to develop the Accra Sky Train Project through a Design, Build, Finance, and Operate arrangement.
The government was said to have spent some $2 million on the Sky Train project.
This, according to the Auditor-General, was executed through the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund’s acquisition of 10 ordinary shares in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Ai Sky Train Consortium Holdings, valued at the said amount.
The Auditor General in its 2021 report described the transaction as a net liability.
This monumental infrastructure announced by President Akufo-Addo had its plan drafted back in 2017.
But an assessment of GIIF’s risk management issues reveals that the policy is still in the draft stage.
“The feasibility studies which will better inform the project economics and required approvals from the Cabinet of Ghana and the Parliament of Ghana are still not conclusive,” the Auditor-General said.
Already, the Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu hinted that the incumbent government will not be able to provide Ghanaians sky trains as earlier indicated.
According to him, even in a few years to come, this project cannot be implemented because it requires a significant amount of capital and the government does not have the fiscal space to absorb such a facility.
“It is not possible to be done now. I don’t see any sky train being done in the next 3 to 4 years. There is not going to be any sky train in the country. It is not possible,” he said in an interview in November 2021.