James Klutse Avedzi (L) and Godfred Dame (R)
The former Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament (PAC), James Klutse Avedzi, has stated that under his tenure, the committee recommended to the former Attorney General (AG), Godfred Dame, the prosecution of individuals involved in the $2 million Sky Train project.
According to him, this recommendation was made after the committee, during its sittings and based on the Auditor-General’s report, discovered financial irregularities and procurement breaches.
He said the committee forwarded the matter to the then-Attorney General, Dame, for further action, but no results were yielded.
Explaining the reasons cited by Dame, Avedzi stated that the former Attorney General claimed he did not receive any official communication from Parliament identifying or acknowledging the individuals who needed to be prosecuted; therefore, he did not act on the matter.
“We recommended a number of people, I cannot count them, to the Attorney General and Minister of Justice for prosecution. At a point, the Attorney General told the committee that there was no communication from Parliament indicating the individuals recommended for prosecution, so he could not proceed with the case.
“I had to do everything possible to ensure that the Clerk of Parliament communicated the plenary’s decisions to him, which he eventually did. That took almost two years. After that, it was left to the Attorney General to prosecute the individuals, but nothing was done. I’m glad we have a new Attorney General now. One of the issues we recommended was the Sky Train case. The committee raised concerns and recommended prosecution,” Avedzi stated in an interview with JoyNews.
The former lawmaker for Ketu North, now the Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), further highlighted loopholes in the system that frustrate the work of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He mentioned that many of the cases the committee recommended for prosecution, intended to serve as deterrents, were neglected due to a lack of implementation.
He described this as a disturbing trend that has persisted for years under previous parliaments.
“We submit reports to Parliament. The plenary adopts the reports, but implementation becomes a problem. The reports are left unattended, and nothing gets done,” he stated.
Sky Train scandal
In 2018, Ghana Sky Train Limited was established by Africa Investor Holdings Limited to incorporate a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in Mauritius for the development of the Accra Sky Train Project through a Design, Build, Finance, and Operate arrangement.
The sky train was expected to have a total track length of 194 kilometers, consisting of five routes. Four of these were radial routes originating from the proposed SkyTrain Terminal at the heart of Accra, near the newly developed Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
The fifth route was designed as an intra-city commuter loop, also emanating from Circle.
In November 2019, the Akufo-Addo government announced that it had signed a concession agreement for the construction of the Accra Sky Train.
At the signing ceremony on Monday, November 11, 2019, President Akufo-Addo described it as “a happy day for Ghana and her good people,” adding that it marked “a critical step towards the consummation of this project.”
MAG/MA
Meanwhile, watch this concluding part of our sit-down with the 100-year-old World War II veteran, who was also present at the 28th February Shooting, below: