Joe Ghartey Invited By National Intelligence Bureau For Questioning Over Sky Train Project
- Former Minister for Railway Development Joe Ghartey has been invited by the National Intelligence Bureau over the Ghana Sky Train project
- Ghartey is reportedly being questioned as part of ongoing investigations into the feasibility and financial dealings on the project.
- This invitation comes after the former Public Procurement Authority Board Chairman, Professor Ameyaw Akumfi was also detained
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Former Minister for Railway Development Joe Ghartey has been invited by the National Intelligence Bureau.
The former minister is being invited over the controversial Ghana Sky Train project.
Source: Facebook
3 News reported that Ghartey, who served as Railways Minister from 2017 to 2021, is reportedly being questioned as part of ongoing investigations into the feasibility and financial dealings on the project.
This invitation comes after the former Public Procurement Authority Board Chairman, Professor Ameyaw Akumfi was detained by the National Investigative Bureau.
The detention was linked to an ongoing probe into financial dealings which transpired during his tenure as Board Chairman of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF).
Ken Kuranchie, a lawyer for Akumfi, told Citi News three pickup trucks went to his home on February 23 morning to inform him that he was needed by the bureau for interrogation.
"We are about four lawyers handling the case at the moment. What happened is that in the morning he was invited by the NIB. They took him to the National Headquarters and they later brought him to the Kawukudi branch, where they interrogated him. When he got here they said they had arrested him, they asked him some questions, they said they were going to detain him but right now they said they were releasing him."
The National Investigations Bureau has carried out a similar arrest of the former National Service Authority (NSA) deputy Director, Kwaku Ohene Gyan.
3 News also reported that the National Intelligence Bureau detained Yaw Danso, an Accountant at the National Service Authority (NSA), in connection with the ghost names payroll scandal that has rocked the institution.
About the Sky Train project
The Ghana Sky Train project was announced in 2018 as an infrastructure plan to ease mobility in Accra.
Under Ghartey, Ghana signed a concession agreement with Africa Investment (Ai) Sky Train Consortium in 2019, with an estimated cost of $3 billion.
However, the project never took off, and concerns were raised about its feasibility and financing.
In 2022, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund disclosed that it had invested $2 million in the project.
The Auditor-General’s report also flagged this expenditure, sparking public scrutiny.
Probe into National Service ghost names scandal
YEN.com.gh reported that 81,885 ghost names were identified in the National Service Scheme payroll.
A recent headcount of National Service Scheme beneficiaries revealed the ghost names on the payroll.
President John Mahama ordered the National Investigations Bureau to probe the National Service Authority following the findings.
A Fourth Estate’s investigation also noted thousands of ghost names under the scheme.
Proofread by Samuel Gitonga, Copy Editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
