… Whistleblower demands answers
Posted: The Chronicle | Friday, February 19, 2010
By Charles Takyi - Boadu
An aviation expert, Duke Odiasempa, who has petitioned the Minister of Transport, Mike Hammah, to take a second look at the liquidation of the defunct Ghana Airways (Ghanair), is not surprised about the continuous silence of transaction advisers, PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), on the deal.
From the onset, the Aviation expert says PriceWaterhouseCoopers had created the impression that its report was waterproof, and gave orders as to how it should be appropriated, stressing that it was ludicrous for PWC to direct that the report should only be used by the official liquidator; the Registrar General.
In its report, the PWC directed that the document should not be used by any other person or institution without its written instruction, and further stated that the report should not be distributed, discussed, or be disclosed, with any third party.
The PWC further stated in their report that they accept no duty, obligation, liability or responsibility for any party, than the official liquidator, concerning their work, a condition, Mr Odiasempa, describes as unfortunate, since “the disclaimer was an insult to the (country’s) Constitution, and a slap in the face of Ghanaians.”
For this reason, he stressed the urgent need for the sector Minister to summon the authors of the report to a meeting, to clarify certain technicalities of their work.
According to him, the claim by the PWC to the effect that they assisted the official liquidation to accomplish key liquidator objectives in the area of realisation in the administration was nothing but a hoax, meant to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians.
Mr. Odiasempa raises doubts about the credibility of the PWC claim to have run a competitive bidding process in the liquidation of the airline, stressing that he was not the least convinced that the company did a good job, as far as that area was concerned.
This, according to him, was evident in the fact that the liquidation of Ghana Airways did expand into choice areas in the UK, such as Kingston-upon Thames, Heathrow Airport area, and other areas where the airline had movable assets.
He wondered why the PWC did not find any suitable value in Ghana, but went against what he described as their own Beaumont and Sons of the UK criteria for lawful liquidation, to form the basis upon which bids were to be evaluated.
According to him, it was earlier argued that Thameside, which offered to pay for the aircraft at US $820,000, was not the highest bidder, but for the different clauses put in the sales agreement, particularly that of CSDS Aviation, which bid further than US$900,000, stressing that the Official Liquidator’s letter of 2007, was disobeyed by the Ghana Airways Assets Disposal Committee.
After having the opportunity to study the said letter, Mr. Odiasempa said he was convinced that the government of the day, deliberately allowed the aircraft 9G-ANB to lie at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) to accrue landing and parking fees for no justifiable reason, saying “this is a financial loss by any definition.”
He emphasised that Ghana Airways also sold two of its F28 Mark 2000 without any debacle, and therefore wondered how come the 9G-ANB aircraft had to remain at the airport to accumulate more debt.
He stressed the need for people to be made to answer for this dereliction of duty.
The aviation expert also raises questions about how the PWC realised only US$20 million from the sale of 43 properties of Ghana Airways, and with an annual turnover of between US$90 million and US$100 million, Mr Duke Odiasempa wonders what exactly might have informed the decision to liquidate the airline because of a US$150 million debt.
Mr. Odiasempa, who has had the privilege of studying and reviewing a report submitted to the Ministry of Transport, by accounting and auditing giants PriceWaterhouseCoopers about the sale of the then Ghana Airways, has raised questions about the credibility of the sale. According to him, the airline only needed a payable loan of US$2 million to survive, but the government of the day declined to give the money to lease two B767-300ER aircraft from Aviation Spares, and therefore wondered what informed that decision.
Mr. Odiasempa indicated that Ghana Airways indeed had a preference to lease an aircraft, since according to him, engineers of the airline, and other foreign engineers, had inspected a B767-300ER aircraft at Zaventum in Belgium, and Shannon in Ireland, in the year 2003. Though various reports were filed and submitted to the then Chief Executive, by the company’s creditor, Aviation Spares International, at an affordable price of US$2,600 a block hour, he wondered why Ghana Airways failed to lease the aircraft, stressing, “The Minister of Transport and his deputy, at various times, had certain preferences, and importuned Ghana Airways to accept Nationwide Airlines of South Africa’s fuel guzzling B747-200 Combi aircraft into service.”
The Deputy Minister of Transport at the time was said to have invited the management of Ghana Airways to his office, and asked why it was obstinate in not selecting K&G Corporation to supply the airline with two B767-300ERs.
This was said to have compelled the then Chief Executive to confront the Deputy Minister somewhere in the year 2003, to ask him “if I am taken to Nsawam Prison in future, would you come and visit me and feed my family?”
The CEO was said to have been compelled by circumstances, at the time, to resign shortly, since he could not bear the extent of ministerial and government interference in the activities and operations of the airline.