The Supreme Court has dismissed an application by former Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) Chief Executive Officer Solomon Asamoah seeking to overturn a High Court ruling and prevent the trial judge from continuing to preside over the $2 million SkyTrain project case.

The five-member panel, presided over by Justice Gabriel Pwamang, with Justices Samuel Asiedu, Hafisata Amaleboba, Sophia Bernasco-Esaah and Anthony Forson, refused Asamoah’s applications for certiorari and prohibition, allowing the trial court’s decisions to stand.

Asamoah had accused the High Court judge of exceeding her jurisdiction, making findings that could prejudice his defence and altering his bail conditions without giving him an opportunity to respond.

His lawyer, Prince Asafo-Agyei, argued the application before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, maintaining that the trial judge had gone beyond the limits of her authority in handling the case.

The application, filed on August 21, 2026, challenged a July 2, 2026, ruling in which the High Court dismissed Asamoah’s submission of no case to answer, requiring him to open his defence.

Counsel contended that the judge had made definitive findings on whether the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to warrant a conviction, rather than limiting her decision to whether the evidence justified requiring the accused to answer the charges.

He further objected to an alleged remark by the judge that Asamoah was “the direct cause of the loss”, arguing that the statement went beyond what was required at that stage of the proceedings and risked prejudicing his defence.

The lawyer also questioned the judge’s handling of his client’s bail conditions, particularly a decision on July 30, 2026, to restore the requirement for Asamoah to report monthly until the trial ends.

According to counsel, the decision was taken without notice to his client or an opportunity for him to be heard, and there was no application before the court seeking a variation of the bail conditions.

Mr Asafo-Agyei argued that the cumulative effect of the judge’s remarks, the bail decision and what he described as off-record proceedings on July 2 created a reasonable apprehension that his client would not receive a fair and impartial trial.

However, the Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, rejected the allegations, insisting that the complaints about the bail conditions did not establish any injustice.

He told the court that Asamoah had applied to vary his bail conditions on February 9, 2026, and that the variation was intended to last only while the trial continued. He argued that once the period covered by the variation expired, the trial judge simply restored the original conditions.

“We do not see any injustice in this case,” Dr Srem-Sai said.

On the claim that the trial judge had exceeded her jurisdiction, the Deputy Attorney-General argued that Asamoah’s application rested on a misunderstanding of the elements of the offence. He also maintained that the allegations presented in support of the application for prohibition did not establish bias on the part of the judge.

The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the application, refusing to issue the orders sought by Asamoah.

Background to the $2 million SkyTrain case

Asamoah and Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, a former chairman of the GIIF board, are standing trial over an alleged $2 million payment linked to the proposed Accra SkyTrain project, which was never constructed.

The prosecution alleges that the money was transferred from GIIF’s account to Africa Investor Holdings Limited, a South African company, without the requisite approval of the fund’s board.

The two accused persons have pleaded not guilty to the charges.