Former Minister for Railways Development, John Peter Amewu, was invited for questioning by National Security operatives on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. He was released the same day.
Amewu’s questioning is linked to the $2 million Sky Train Project. According to sources, the former appointee’s detention was part of ongoing investigations into the failed initiative.
The Sky Train project, which had $2 million allegedly spent on feasibility studies, has been confirmed by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr. Dominic Ayine, to have not met its objectives. Dr. Ayine addressed the issue in a press briefing on Monday, March 24, 2025.
During the briefing, Dr. Ayine also stated that prosecutions related to the Sky Train scandal are expected to begin by mid-April 2025.
He reassured the public that suspects are cooperating with investigators, and that efforts are being made to recover any misappropriated public funds.
John Peter Amewu has since returned to his residence, according to his personal assistant, who confirmed the information to TV3.
The Accra SkyTrain was projected as a fully automated, elevated light railway metro network for Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. The proposed network would have five routes, four of which are radial routes that originate at a new terminal at the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange, and another route that loops around the city. The total track length across all routes would have been 194 kilometres (121 mi).
The announced system was going to use the Aeromovel technology and will have capacity to carry 10,000 passengers per hour per direction on each route.
In 2018 the Government of Ghana signed a MOU with AiSky Train Consortium of South Africa. Following completion of a feasibility study, in November 2019 the parties signed a build–operate–transfer concession agreement. The company was to develop the system at an estimated cost of $2.6 billion. The government called the project a “100% private sector owned project” with no government funding.
No work was commenced due to legal questions and the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2021 the government announced it was intending to proceed but was waiting for reports from the Attorney General before submitting legislation to the parliament. By November that year it was finally revealed that the project could not take place.
(With additional files from Wikipedia)
