Top Manager Saddles Ghanair With ?2 Billion Debt

From White Avenue offices of the troubled national airline Ghana Airways (Ghanair) to Baltimore, New York, through the Abidjan offices of the airline and back to Accra, the story that recurs is mismanagement and corruption. “Chronicle” can reveal that Mr. Desire Wuver, Abidjan Area Manager for Ghanair, has abused his office, an act that has cost the airline an estimated CFA 200 million (about ?2.08 billion) using the current exchange rate.

Wuver came into the limelight when about seven years ago he was posted to Sierra Leone as head of the airline’s offices in that country. After two years in Sierra Leone, Wuver was transferred to Abidjan as Area Manager, a position he held since 1996 until the discovery of his ‘misdeeds’ early this year.

“Chronicle” gathered that over the years Wuver has been able to outwit the internal auditor of the company until recently when one ‘young’ man decided to give out information about him to the authorities. Soon after the information got to the authorities, Wuver was asked to proceed on leave.

He was later interdicted while a committee headed by one of the airline’s legal officers, Mr. Amoah, was assigned to investigate his stewardship. While the investigations were in progress, one Mrs. Helena Amoah Kesseh, formerly of the commercial department, was posted to Abidjan to take over from Wuver as the manager.

Surprisingly, when on May Day, this year, Chronicle reached Capt. Kofi Kwakwa, the chairman of the Management Task Force of Ghanair, for his comment on developments at the Abidjan office concerning Wuver, he claimed he did not know Wuver.

“Captain Kwakwa, are you saying you don’t know the Wuver, whom your administration has interdicted?”

“I know our Abidjan office is headed by a lady, so I was at a loss when you said our Area Manager has been interdicted for embezzlement,” Kwakwa surprisingly told Chronicle. When Chronicle drew his attention to the fact that we were fully aware that his administration had set up a committee to investigate Wuver, Capt. Kwakwa maintained he did not know the gentleman this reporter was talking about.

Chronicle gathered that Wuver over the years had engaged in practices that were irregular which have cost the airline an estimated CFA 200 million. It came to light, for instance, that he managed to acquire a bus which he hired out to Ghanair as a staff bus.

Since he was the owner of the vehicle, he did his own thing and billed Ghanair three times higher when compared to the going rate of hire in Abidjan. As a result, over the years he was able to shortchange the airline for his personal gains.

Wuver managed to line his pockets in the areas of entertainment and checking in at hotels also. Chronicle gathered that Wuver had struck a deal with managers in some high class Ivorian hotels and he billed Ghanair at the end of every month, even though information has it that he hardly checked any passengers in at those hotels.

Again, Wuver is reported to have regularly allocated huge funds as entertainment expenditure for non-existing passengers. Through these means Wuver managed to make millions of CFA in the last five or so years when he served the Abidjan office as the Area Manager of the airline.

As at the time of filing this story Chronicle learnt that Wuver had been dismissed as an employee of the airline but what was not clear was whether he was going to be handed over to the security agencies for the necessary action. All attempts by the Chronicle to link up with Wuver through his colleagues proved futile as no one was prepared to help.