... Board sacked!!!!!
Ghana's government has taken over full control of the troubled state airline Ghana Airways and sacked its board.

Ticket sales have also been halted, presidential chief of staff Kwadwo Mpiani announced.

A four-member task force is being established to restructure the airline, which owes its foreign and domestic creditors about $160m.

Last month, the airline was banned from flying to the US for safety reasons and many passengers were stranded.

'Back on track'

The measures were being taken to prevent further damage, Mr Mpiani said in a statement

"All stakeholders and the Ghanaian public are hereby assured that these measures are being taken with the object of putting the airline back on track."

Mr Mpiani said that arrangements were being made for stranded travellers to be transported to their destinations.

On Sunday, angry passengers at Ghana's main airport briefly held a pilot hostage when their patience over delays ran out.

The first batch of stranded Ghana Airways passengers, bound for London, flew out of Accra on Thursday after waiting days for a flight, Radio Ghana reported.

The airline was stopped from flying to the US pending an investigation into allegations that it flew unsafe planes and operated without a licence.