Three Managing Directors in five years, what next for GACL?

Over the past 24 hours, the termination of the appointment of the Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Mr. Yaw Kwakwa, by the President through the company’s board has dominated news headlines.

Mr. Kwakwa becomes the third Managing Director of the company within the last five years to leave the post. His predecessor, Mr. John Attafuah, was relieved of his duties in a similar manner—his letter was leaked to the media before he was communicated to.

Mr. Charles Asare resigned in 2017, under undue political pressure according to AviationGhana sources, after the change of government that year.

For a limited liability company in charge of managing all airports in the country, a little stability is needed. Most importantly, it ought to be insulated from partisan political control.

Indeed, steps were taken with the establishment of the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) in June 2019.

SIGA by its mandate is to oversee and administer the State’s interests in Specified Entities, to ensure shareholder value, financial sustainability and good corporate governance.

GACL, a company that was so profitable it could borrow on its own balance sheet, is one of the entities under SIGA, yet the Transport Ministry also sees it as an agency under the Ministry.

This was a major concern during the tenure of Asamoah Boateng as SIGA boss for which he sought to educate all parties about the role of SIGA.

“SIGA is a new institution and my expectation is that you would help develop a new culture, and should not be bounded by the old culture and practices of its predecessors. It is a general agreement that these old institutions did not work in the interest of our people and our country, and that is the reason why a new authority has been brought into being".

“So, the attitude must be new king, new law; a new authority, a new culture; a culture of accountable governance and of respecting the norms, sensibilities and practice of good corporate governance not only amongst yourself but also the institutions that report to you,” President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said during the inauguration of SIGA.

To achieve the vision of SIGA, as rightly acknowledged by the President, SIGA should be allowed to advertise the role of GACL MD, interview prospective applicants, select the most suitable and sign a performance contract that details the penalties and rewards with the successful candidate.

This is imperative in ensuring some level of stability at GACL. GACL borrows from the international market to undertake projects. If the tenure of management remains uncertain, investors will be wary of lending to the entity or they may demand relatively high interest given the risk.

The only reason that Ghana’s aviation sector has grown this fast and is lauded by our neighbors is the courage to decouple the regulatory and management function of the aviation sector and the go-ahead to establish a limited liability company to manage all airports.

For GACL to return to its glory days, SIGA must be allowed the free hand to oversee this state-owned entity based on acceptable management principles and approved performance contracts.