Prayers cannot save Ghanair - MP

PRAYER IS not the panacea to the woes of Ghana Airways, says Kwesi Osei -Prempeh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Nsuta Kwamang constituency and chairman - Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary affairs.

With a new reconstituted board and the appointment of Mr. Philip Owusu as Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Osei Prempeh noted that it behoves the workers to galvanize themselves and save the airline from collapse by changing their attitudes towards work, rather than expect miracles from prayer.

Mr. Prempeh noted that the culture in the country is so inclined to God that people tend to seek solution from God anytime something props up without resorting to practical solution.

“Even though I’m not against praying for the airline to get out of its woes, just going to pray and sleep won’t solve the problem,” he added.

The nation’s pride airline is currently saddled with a debt of about $146 million, owing to mismanagement on the part of some of its staff.

Due to this and the fact that Ghanair is nearing collapse, a London-based top Ghanaian Evangelist, Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, proclaimed that God’s face should shine upon the airline at the corporate head office in Accra last Sunday.

Mr. Prempeh gave his reaction to Chronicle in an interview in Accra on Wednesday this week.

As to whether the airline should be liquidated like Nigerian Airways, Mr. Prempeh contended that liquidation won’t solve the problem and that such a move would defeat the nation’s quest to position itself as the gateway to West Africa, since it is the only airline left in the region.

Mr. Prempeh further suggested that the government should encourage private sector participation as impetus to enable strategic investors who will inject more capital and enhance good management in the airline as one of the means to sustain it.

On the recently compiled forensic audit report on Ghanair, a release which political analysts and social commentators are yearning for, he stressed that the release will only implicate people in malfeasance but not act as the ultimate solution to the problems that have swallowed the airline.

When asked about the position of Parliament on Ghanair, Mr. Prempeh replied, “I cannot speak for Parliament.”