THE TRUTH ABOUT GHANA AIRWAYS
AS PROMISED, WE BRING YOU EXCLUSIVE EXTRACTS FROM A 50 PAGE STATEMENT ABOUT ISSUES RELATING TO THE ADMINSITRATION OF THE FORMER CEO OF GHANA AIRWAYS, MR. E.L. QUARTEY jnr.. WE HAVE CAREFULLY EXAMINED THE CONTENTS OF THIS STATEMENT AND HAVE EXTRACTED KEY POINTS THAT SHOULD PROVOKE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS IN THE MINDS OF ALL FAIR & OPEN MINDED PEOPLE.
THE FULL STATEMENT WILL BE REPRODUCED ON THIS PAGE AT A DATE IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE. WE WILL MAINTAIN OUR POLICY OF PROVIDING A PLATFORM THROUGH WHICH PEOPLE WHOSE RIGHT TO FAIR REPRESENTATION HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED, HAVE A CHANCE TO STATE THEIR POINT OF VIEW. WE ALSO ARE STRONG BELIEVERS IN THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO FORM THEIR OWN (RIGHT) OPINIONS, PROVIDED THEY ARE GIVEN ACCESS TO FULL AND UNBIASED INFORMATION.
Quartey did not run a one man show as he has been widely accused of by some critics and former colleagues of Ghana Airways to have done. Rather in an organization that has had 27 chief executives in 45 years the evidence suggests that blame cannot be laid solely at the door of the CEO. Remarkably because of Quartey’s absence from Ghana and his silence, all manner of accusations and blame has been placed at his doorstep. Unfortunately for some the silence is now broken.
Quartey did not abscond and leave office once governments changed. He resigned and gave 3 months notice. His board recommended a further 3 months to the Minister to enable Quartey stabilize the situation in the organization prior to his departure. Had he believed that he could not achieve this he would have left immediately as he was able to do contractually. This was not accepted, and Quartey left six weeks into his notice period on the Minister’s request. Despite the short 48 hour notice Quartey was given to hand over he left four comprehensive volumes of handing over notes on which he has never been asked a single question.
The debt Quartey left in Ghana Airways according to his handing over notes was $105m out of which as many as five aircraft with a value of about $40m had been acquired and a debt of $35m inherited from Speedwing. While he refuses to speculate why and how the debt grew to a high of $180m following his departure; Quartey believes that during his era there were (and possibly still are) irregularities and malfeasance with ticketing, fuel uplift and pricing and inflation of invoices resulting in exaggerated losses and debt. These are all areas he was interestingly addressing prior to his departure and on his departure gave written points to his successor to look further into.
A careful analysis of the organization demonstrates that Ghana Airway’s difficulties cannot be deemed to have risen solely or principally from route expansion. The curtailment of certain routes which followed Quartey’s departure has resulted in a loss in market share to key competitors like SAA and British Airways. And a situation which may be causing the gap between revenue and expenditure to widen. This is presumably why the present administration has opened one new route and is considering reopening others.
The performance of several airlines worldwide in an environment of a downturn in the industry was evident. Ghana Airways did well under the former CEO’s leadership to survive a turbulent industry without handouts from the government. And become the sole survivor in West Africa all was set to then capitalize on this competitive advantage.
The impression that Ghana Airways bought aircraft during Quartey’s era which were not technically evaluated or sound is false. Furthermore the impression that the prices of aircraft were inflated for personal gain or otherwise is also false. Rather there is evidence as to the great lengths the former CEO went in to achieving savings for Ghana Airways and Ghana, running in several millions of Dollars.
The former CEO met a situation when several years of accounts had not been audited during the Speedwing era. This was addressed under his leadership 1995,1996,1997,1998 were all audited. Regarding The un-audited 1999 accounts, it was due to question marks raised by the Board sub committee on finance and external consultants on figures submitted that the auditing of the accounts was delayed. Ironically almost two years following his departure the 2000 and 2001 accounts remain un-audited. 1999 accounts were audited but qualified by the external auditors.
The myth that Quartey was paid $7,500 a month for his tenure as head of the organization and paid no taxes throughout the period is also false. He has no tax liability with respect to his remuneration at Ghana Airways.
Quartey worked in Ghana Airways for 20 months before collecting a salary. So for the greatest part of his employment Ghana Airways was always indebted to him.
The rumor that the former CEO collected all his remuneration through petty cash and never accounted for it is false; evidence available suggests the contrary. There were several salary reconciliation statements prepared by him which show that at every stage of his employment with the airline he was owed money by the company and not vice versa. Even though this is what is being peddled now after two years since his departure, why were none of Quartey’s numerous salary statements not challenged earlier.
All tickets Quartey bought were either paid for or authorized to be deducted from his salary. This is remarkable for someone who was permitted to authorize fully rebated tickets. The impression created that Quartey gave free tickets liberally to his friends and NDC members is false. Rather Quartey has stated that even those in opposition at the time benefited from ticket discounts and upgrades when justified. Furthermore, those who were sick, students, and journalist also benefited. Quartey has since challenged that the full list of beneficiaries be published. And also the outcome of an audit report he commissioned exposing those officials who usurped and abused the discounted ticket privilege and also the beneficiaries be exposed.
The concept of discounted tickets is used widely in the industry as a promotional or marketing tool by nearly all airlines. It cannot be deemed to be a major cause of loss of revenue especially when the airline is on average only half full which was the case for Ghana Airways during the Quartey era.
The rumor that the London office building was sold by the former CEO to be bought by ex-president Rawlings and himself is totally false and has been challenged.
The rumor that Ghana Airways funds were used to finance the NDC has also no substance and has been challenged.
Quartey has been told that apparently; one of the key but hidden objectives of the forensic audit was to incriminate him at all costs. The contract for forensic audit was originally awarded to Ernst and Young (Paul Kumahor) and inexplicably switched to World Wide Investments (Rex Adomako Bonsu), to ensure a desired outcome, Bonsu is allegedly a friend of certain influential personalities, and has reportedly had business relationships with certain board members of the Airline; Quartey refuses to be intimidated by these reports even if they are true. He believes he is innocent and that the truth will stand even if not today it ultimately will.
The impression that Quartey snubbed forensic auditors is false he rather advised what was convenient to him and his willingness to participate in an exercise, which he was told was voluntary. After having been told that the meetings would take place in London (this was confirmed in writing) and written questions would be provided for him to answer this was changed late in the day by the auditors. He could have been sent interrogatories or a draft of the report for comment, this was also denied him. What is most baffling is that the forensic auditors visited London and met various people/organizations but mysteriously no attempt to see Quartey was made. He has currently requested a copy of the report to comment on because no report will be complete or credible without his input. This has been ignored. Is all this because the purpose of the report is really to vilify him at all cost?
Finally the former CEO states that despite all the unsubstantiated rumors and negative media campaigns orchestrated by his detractors and critics, he was not corrupt in any way. He challenges anybody worldwide who can state that he was corrupt in public office to make himself and the allegation known publicly.
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Copyright © 2003 Granville Fynn. All Rights Reserved