Tension brews at GACL over return of former NPP MCE to post

There are growing agitations and tension at the Ghana Airport Company. The developments at the company stem from several management decisions that workers believe are detrimental to the organization’s progress. According to some workers, the Managing Director of GACL, Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare, has elevated certain individuals to top management positions within just three months of their engagement, without following due process. They claim these appointments were influenced by the individuals’ affiliation with the NPP. For instance, they cite appointments within the Commercial Department, which is responsible for managing key revenue contracts and landed properties, as a major concern. Another issue fueling the agitations is the reinstatement of Felicia Edem Attipoe, the immediate past MCE for Tema East. Workers allege that she left the company to take up a political appointment but continued receiving salaries while on leave without pay. Despite an earlier letter interdicting her, she has now been re-engaged by the new MD following the NPP’s loss in the 2024 elections. The aggrieved staff are demanding that the MD set up a committee to investigate the double salary claims against her, despite her refunding the amount after the NPP exited power.

The workers are also raising concerns about politically exposed persons occupying key positions and making decisions that they believe do not serve the company’s best interests. They point to the Director for Commercial Services, Gideon Mahama Grumah, who was a special aide to the late Aviation Minister Kofi Addah and an NPP parliamentary aspirant for the Nalerigu/Gambaga constituency in the 2024 elections. Additionally, the aggrieved workers accuse the MD of promoting NPP executives and staff members to senior management levels without following due process, as required by the collective agreement. Among the beneficiaries, they claim, are the NPP Greater Accra Regional Vice Chairman, Eric Yeboah, and eighteen others, including all regional airport managers and directors. The workers are also questioning why the new Mahama administration is still retaining Yvonne Nana Afriyie Opare as MD.

Furthermore, some staff members have vowed to reject any appointment of a Deputy Managing Director, arguing that such a position does not exist within the company’s organizational structure. They warn that any attempt to introduce positions that are not in line with the existing structure will result in continuous friction between the government and the workers’ union.