The Accra High Court has fixed July 23 as the start date for the trial of former Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF) board chairman, Prof. Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi, and ex-Chief Executive Officer Solomon Asamoah, over the failed $2 million Accra Sky Train project.

Both men have been charged with causing financial loss to the state and willful misuse of public funds. They have pleaded not guilty and have been granted bail.

At the court sitting on Wednesday, July 9, the legal team for Prof. Ameyaw Akumfi officially withdrew their application which had asked the court to dismiss the charges brought against him.

This application had prompted the Attorney General to file for an abridgement of time to speed up the hearing, setting an earlier date of July 3. However, the case could not proceed on that day because the defence team did not attend.

When the case resumed on Wednesday, Justice Comfort Tasiame struck out the application after the lead lawyer for Prof. Ameyaw Akumfi withdrew it in open court.

Lawyer Victoria Barth, representing Solomon Asamoah, also asked the court for more time to review the case documents, saying she had just taken over the matter from previous counsel.

Justice Tasiame then adjourned the case to July 23 to begin the trial.

The prosecution informed the court that they would call the first of eight witnesses when proceedings start.