The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) says Kotoka International Airport (KIA) is not for sale nor being privatized.

According to the company, “An unsolicited proposal has been received from a Turkish Consortium which is yet to be considered. It is rather unfortunate that certain figures from the proposal are being used to peddle untruths.”

John Dramani Mahama, the NDC flagbearer, in his interview with Woezor TV last week, condemned a move by the government to sell off the Kotoka International Airport to a foreign partner.

He indicated that the government’s decision to hand over more than 50% of the aviation company to TAM-SUMMA Consortium, a Turkish company, is not prudent and must be stopped, adding that it was wrong “to give up our airport like that”.

“When we were in office, a valuation study of the Kotoka Airport was done and it was valued at over GH¢5 billion. It also had an insured value in the region of GH¢3 billion to GH¢4 billion because a lot of money had been invested in the airport and it had become one of the five best airports in Africa,” Mahama said.

Bemoaning the partnership, he described the move by the government as “strange” to cede a chunk of the airport to the Turkish company in exchange for US$70 million.

“[Now we are seeing] a strange development where a Turkish company is being given the airport; to take over the airport and run it. For US$70 million we are giving 66% of the airport to a Turkish company. We are against it. It is wrong,” John Mahama stated.

But the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) in a statement copied to GhanaWeb stated that the former president’s claim that an investment of $600 million was done in Kotoka International Airport is false.

The GACL stated: “The amount may be in reference to the funding of projects in all airports including [the] $130m runway project at Tamale Airport and [a] $25 million new airport in Ho.”

“The claim that GACL has been unable to service the syndicated loan facility is untrue. To date, GACL has met its repayment obligations under the loan facility,” the statement read further.

The management of Ghana Airports Company Limited assured Ghanaians that it is the vision of the company to make “Ghana the preferred Aviation hub and leader in Airport business in West Africa” and reiterated that “Kotoka International Airport is not for sale.”

Read below the full statement.