The Accra High Court has given two former officials of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) until September 23, 2026, to file their witness statements in the $2 million SkyTrain case.
The decision was taken on Monday, August 24, during a case management conference (CMC) presided over by Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay.
The two accused persons are former GIIF Chief Executive Officer Solomon Asamoah and former GIIF Board Chairman Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi.
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They are standing trial over allegations that they conspired to cause financial loss of $2 million in connection with the proposed Accra SkyTrain project, which was never constructed.
The High Court granted the accused persons additional time to file their defence despite applications before the Supreme Court.
Counsel for Solomon Asamoah, Prince Asafo-Adjei, who held brief for Victoria Barth, told the court that his client had not yet filed his defence process.
He explained that Asamoah had, on August 21, 2026, filed an application at the Supreme Court invoking its supervisory jurisdiction in relation to the SkyTrain case.
An interlocutory injunction application had also been filed, with a return date of August 27, 2026.
Counsel therefore asked the High Court to adjourn the matter to allow the accused to await the outcome of the Supreme Court proceedings.
Counsel for Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, Godfred Gyimah Okyere, who held brief for Yaw Acheampong Boafo, similarly informed the court that his client had not filed his defence process.
He said, however, that a fresh application for a stay of proceedings pending appeal had been filed at the Supreme Court on August 21.
The application is scheduled to be heard on September 1, 2026.
Counsel also requested an adjournment.
The Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, opposed the applications for more time.
He told the court that it had directed the accused persons on July 2, 2026, to file their defence processes within 21 days if they intended to defend themselves.
According to the Deputy Attorney-General, that deadline expired on August 20, 2026.
He explained that the High Court had previously granted the accused another 21 days to file their defence after dismissing their applications for a stay of proceedings on July 30.
Dr Srem-Sai argued that the applications filed at the Supreme Court on August 21 came after the High Court’s deadline had expired.
He further submitted that an application invoking the Supreme Court’s supervisory jurisdiction does not automatically stay proceedings before the High Court.
The same, he argued, applied to an interlocutory injunction application and the fresh application for a stay of proceedings filed by Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi.
The Deputy Attorney-General therefore urged the High Court not to grant further indulgence, arguing that the accused persons had failed to comply with the court’s orders.
He further asked the court to convict the accused persons on the basis that the prosecution had established a prima facie case and they had failed to open their defence.
Despite the prosecution’s objections, Justice Audrey Kocuvie-Tay exercised the court’s discretion to grant the accused persons additional time.
The court held that the filing of processes at the Supreme Court did not prevent the High Court from continuing with the SkyTrain trial.
However, Justice Kocuvie-Tay said the court would extend the time for the accused persons to file their witness statements if they still wished to defend themselves.
The judge noted that the latest extension would be approximately the third time the court had granted the accused persons additional time to file their witness statements.
She consequently ordered Solomon Asamoah and Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi to file their witness statements on or before September 23, 2026.
The court also directed that the next case management conference be held on October 5, 6 and 7, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. each day.
The case was accordingly adjourned to October 5, 2026.
The prosecution alleges that the two former GIIF officials conspired to cause financial loss of $2 million through the proposed Accra SkyTrain project.
According to the prosecution, the $2 million was transferred from a GIIF account to Africa Investor Holdings Limited, a South African company, without the required approval for the intended SkyTrain investment.
The proposed Accra SkyTrain project was never constructed, forming the basis of the financial loss allegations against the two former GIIF officials.
The accused persons have, however, not yet opened their defence, with the latest court order giving them until September 23 to file their witness statements.