Govt. attempt to cheat Ghanaians in KIA partnership won't be taken lightly - Minority warns

The Minority in Parliament has warned the government that any deal with strategic partner for the management of Terminal Three of the Kotoka International Airport is not in the interest of Ghana.

Kwame Governs Agbodza the Ranking Member on the Roads and Transport Committee of the House says an attempt to shortchange Ghanaians in the agreement will not be taken kindly.

Workers of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, embarked on a demonstration against alleged plans by the government to privatise the company.

The angry workers, clad in red attire, claim the government, through the Aviation Ministry, intends to hand over the company to a Turkish investor.

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Meanwhile, Aviation Minister Kofi Adda has said the Kotoka International Airport is not for sale contrary to some media and social media reports.

Mr Adda said in a statement that the Ministry is only considering “a proposed strategic partnership arrangement between Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL) and TAV-SUMMA Consortium to improve service delivery and expansion of infrastructure at the Kotoka International Airport to achieve the government’s vision of making Ghana the aviation hub within the West African sub-region”.

“In this regard, an executive approval was granted by H.E. the President for the Ministry to facilitate the engagement of the strategic partners”, the statement noted.

Mr Adda also noted that: “To this end, we hereby state categorically that neither the Ministry nor the GACL has yet formally started any process of engagement on the subject matter with any stakeholder or partner”.

“We, therefore, wish to note that the false information on the sale of the Kotoka International Airport being circulated in the media/social media is the work of mischievous and malicious elements to pitch the staff of GACL and the general public against the government to achieve their diabolical agenda and erode the successes chalked in the aviation sector for the last three (3) years”.

“Based on the above submission, the general public is hereby entreated to disregard the fabrication going on in the media regarding the sale of the Kotoka International Airport”.

The Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, GACL, Yaw Kwakwa, backed the government's decision decision to partner with a foreign firm in the management of the country’s Airports.

According to him, the partnership is necessary to address a couple of operational challenges that ought to be resolved if Ghana is to become an Aviation hub as the government envisages.