Ghana Airways to be sold to Togbe Afede in dubious deals

Ghana Airways to be sold to Togbe Afede in dubious deals: Transport Minister, others fingered.

While Ghana is reeling from the devastations caused by what has become perennial floods with government’s inability to finance drainage projects due to budget cuts, it sounds insensitive and an indictment on the people of Ghana if the purported millions of dollars to be diverted into the defunct Ghana Airways in the name of Public Private Partnership is granted by the President.

Explosive information gathered indicate that government will in few weeks give tax breaks to Togbe Afede owned African World Airlines (AWA) running into millions of dollars to operate the national carrier at a disguise of public private partnership (PPP) with the Minister of Transport Dzifa Ativor and one Nana Soglo ALLOH IV, Board Chairman of the troubled Agricultural Development Bank scheming through dubious bid to siphon state funds through this partnership. Just last year some notable airlines such as Air Namibia and Virgin Atlantic have pulled out of Ghana and few days ago, Antrak Air has suspended flights as well. The African World Airlines cannot be said to be doing any better than some of the well established aviation airlines operating in the country. AWA has even below-par technical expertise compared with others in the industry with even those at the employ of the airline at the privilege of only Ewes. This all point to the fact that, although there is growing demand for airline travel in Ghana particularly domestically, the aviation industry is not a profit making industry in prevailing economic challenges for government to invest million dollars of Ghanaian tax payers’ money into let alone trust the national asset to the underperforming African World Airlines. It is an open secret that the African World Airlines, a joint venture by Hainan Airlines, China-Africa Development Fund, SSNIT and Togbe Afede’s Strategic African Securities Limited (SAS) is by itself not faring well in the aviation industry so how should government even consider manipulating a bid to partner AWA in revamping Ghana Airways if not for parochial benefits by a few. Why couldn’t the appropriate authorities make the bid competitive for more established airlines to compete if the public private partnership is for the good of our country???? At a time when the country is faced with energy crisis, one would have thought government channel resources to addressing the energy deficits rather than diverting our limited subsidies to African World Airlines to resuscitate its own declining and uninspiring services. On the other hand, it is obvious President Mahama has no idea the dubious schemes of the Transport Minister and Nana Soglo Alloh in leading the attempt to award the bid to Togbe Afede’s AWA via a surreptitiously manipulated tender process.

In view of the history of Ghana Airways in the two failed attempts to revive it and the cost incurred thereafter by the state, it is bidding on the President in the supreme interest of the country to reject any attempt by the Transport Minister and others culpable to cause another financial loss to the state. It is clear to note that with the vain attempts by the Kuffour government and during the Attah Mills’ government to revive the national carrier without success, any attempt to give the Ghana Airways to Togbe Afede who has failed to manage Aluworks and now Accra Hearts of Oak as Board Chairman will only cause another judgment debt as another government other than the Mahama-led administration will not honor such agreements. Even when Ghana’s renowned and spirited Tele- evangelist Dr. Lawrence Tetteh was flown down from London in 2003 by President Kuffour to pray for the revival of the moribund Ghana airways, institutional inefficiencies could not allow the airline to resurrect. For what reasons therefore will anybody think diverting millions of state funds to African World Airline will revive the industry if not for selfish gains? It must be known to the nation wreckages scheming to defraud the country that criminating evidence are there to attest the clandestine stage-managed bid to award the bid to AWA and to siphon millions of dollars of tax-payers money into the running of the airline. It also sounds apprehensive that after several warnings by environmental and energy experts as to the use of Coal energy to address our energy deficiency, government is giving credence to Togbe Afede to use his Chinese connections to bring such dirty energy with its accompanying harmful effects on the lifes of ordinary Ghanaians. Coal is not only the biggest contributor to Global Warming but also emits harmful wastes such as carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphuric acids, arsenic and ash. It also emits twice as much carbon dioxide when compared with natural gas to produce the same level of heat, which increased the levels of harmful greenhouse gases emitted into the earth’s atmosphere. Do we as a country have the needed capacity and expertise to neutralize the acid rain, pollution, nitrogen emission and many other harmful effects that the running of coal energy will bring on us?? Or has Ghana reached the point where one can assume a chieftaincy status and deceitfully and craftily portray it as a kingdom to look like Asanteman, Dagbon etcetera in order to wield so much power and influence to engage in dubious deals at the expense of the Ghanaian tax-payer???? . President Mahama should note that, Ghana is bigger than any Chieftaincy title and any attempt to allow Togbe Afede to use public officials like the Transport Minister, the clueless Dzifa Ativor to get African World Airlines partner Ghana Airways will be seriously and deadly revolted by Ghanaians through any means possible. Parliament should come to the aid of Ghanaians to stop this Togbe Afede manipulations and safe Ghana from another disaster waiting to happen. Ghana must reign supreme!!