Ghanair Cash Only Fraud: Who Benefits?

This is a follow up to the article published in the Chronicle and Ghanaweb on March 15, 2004 (Ghanair's Baltimore flight scandal - Part 1). This three-part article claims fraud at Ghana Airways baggage handling. The second and third parts of the article are anxiously awaited. The following is food for thought.

The Ghanair board and the transport minister should all be made to account for losses resulting from the cash only excess luggage transactions. They should account for all the flights for which the collected money does not add up to the capacity of the cargo space. If the kickbacks have gone through the chain of authority up to the government ministers, so be it. It is time to come clean. Firing one probably innocent CEO is not the answer. 2+2 = 4. Simple enough for the entire board and transport minister to understand. Account for the money and ask whoever is collecting the money to begin reporting the right amount of money with each flight.

If the lost revenue for one flight Accra-Baltimore is $100,000. How many flights did have full cargo capacity last year? Counting New York, Baltimore, London and few others, there should be at least 600 flights with full cargo space. Supposing that the lost of revenue on each of the 600 flights last year is estimated at $100,000 then the total lost revenue is at least $60 million.

The Kuffour government has been in power for three years already, that is $180 million of lost revenue for the Ghanair cargo related operations. Firing of CEO in a humiliating way is not enough. If this is how political campaign is financed in Ghana that should stop.

There should be immediate investigation on this matter. Any and all person that has a hand in this should pay. After those that have stolen under the Kuffour government have paid back and/or thrown in jail, then move on to the Rawlings and Co. They had the opportunity for more than 19 years to account for.

The lost revenues under Kuffour government alone could pay for the $160 million of Ghanair debt. During the eight months reign of the outgoing CEO, how much was the estimated losses. How come his predecessors did not report these types of losses. How come Mr. Owusu is the only known CEO thrown out of office in a humiliating way?

The media blames Kuffour for the firing of the CEO. If true, does Kuffour also know something about the bleeding? Did the outgoing CEO come up with the creative idea of estimating the minimum amount the cargo space should bring? If yes, he is a smart and patriotic man worthy of praise and NOT humiliation.

Please government and/or Kuffour, if this reporting is true, do not resort to killing to cover up. We are all watching to see the innocent ones that get clobbered in the head while the real mafia remains at large.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.