A former legal counsel of Ghana Airways, Nana Frema Busia, has painted a bleak future of the national carrier. Nana Frema Busia, daughter of the late Prime Minister in the second republic, Dr. Abrefa Busia, was speaking on Joy FM’s current affairs programme, Front Page.

Now a lawyer of investments and finance practicing in America and the world over, Nana Frema Busia said Ghana Airways ought to be liquidated. “If you read the report that came out of Ghana Airways and you’re being truthful, you will have to liquidate that airline. The roots are very viable, but the institution is not”.

“It does not mean that we cannot have a national airline but Ghanair as it is today, I believe based on the information that I have, is not viable”, she added.

According to her, Ghana Airways is highly indebted and lacks the necessary operational tools. She regretted that the airline is leasing old aircrafts to ply its routes, resulting in further losses. “Ghana Airways has bought or leased rather, DC 9’s, probably 26 years old, probably older than the ones we have already. They are not fuel-efficient, they do not do the job properly. There are reports that they are inefficient, so why are you today 2002(2003) investing in aircrafts that have given you problems and that have made you unproductive”, she queried.

She also expressed concern about the recent debate on the proposed sale of government’s shares in Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB). Nana Frema Busia, who audited some of the loans given out by GCB, said government failed to take a critically necessary action in the interest of political expediency. “We have huge loans covered by governmental guarantees which the government cannot pay. We have loans that GCB gave out which were contrary to legal institutions that set it up … We have loans like that that are in default”.

Nana Frema noted that “the NPP administration is caught up in a tunnel”, but emphasized the need to educate the public on issues that affect them. She said although there is freedom of speech in Ghana, people do not understand a lot of issues and do not make meaningful contributions to discussions. “There is a lot of noise being made in Ghana today by all kinds of people who don’t necessarily have the facts or the understanding of certain critical issues”, Nana Frema told Kwaku Sakyi Addo.