$1.4m paid to 47 pilots, flight engineers — Gloria Akuffo

Page 17, Feb 29, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah

THE Minister of State responsible for Aviation, Ms Gloria Akuffo, on Wednesday told Parliament that a total of $1.4 million had been paid to 47 pilots and flight engineers of the former Ghana Airways Company Limited as their severance award.
She said a second group of 1,024 former employees, out of 1,199, who were made up of general staff and cabin crew, their documents had been processed for payment, totalling $1.9 million by the official liquidator of the company.
The minister was in the House to answer a question posed by the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Mr Iddrisu Haruna.
The MP enquired from the minister whether the severance and other end-of-service benefits for the former workers of the defunct Ghana Airways had been paid.
Ms Akuffo explained that the Ghana Airways had been in liquidation since June, 2005, with a total creditor claim estimated at $200 million as against a realisable asset value of $32 million.
She said in view of the huge deficit, the government had agreed to support the settlement of the creditors claim, subject to validation and parliamentary approval.
So far, the minister said, total inflow in the course of the liquidation stood at $36.6 million which comprised of $400 million as cash on hand at the liquidation, $29.7 million from assets realisation and $6.5 million as cash funding by the government.
Ms Akuffo stated that the remaining 175 former employees of the second group, who formed 15 per cent of the qualified claimants, were yet to be awarded severance pay, adding that 20 people out of this category had refused to accept their award offered by the liquidator on the basis that their entitlements should be calculated upon the salaries they were earning when they were posted overseas.
She said the official liquidator had rejected their position on the grounds that once the workers had been repatriated to Ghana, they reverted to their local salary scales, in accordance to laid-down practice when the Ghana Airways was in operation.
Ms Akuffo explained further that the government had also agreed to provide a total funding of $6.5 million payable in two tranches of $2 million and $4.5 million respectively, to enable the official liquidator settle the entitlements of the second group.
She said the official liquidator was still waiting the payment of the second tranche of $4.5 million this year, explaining that the remaining 155 former workers were yet to be resolved since validation was still in progress.
The minister told the House that in 1997, Airways Catering Limited (ACL), then a subsidiary of the Ghana Airways, became autonomous and consequently ??? those class of ACL who were at post prior in the autonomy qualified as employees of the Ghana Airways.
She said the request by a group of ACL workers, who were employed after ACL became autonomous for the payment of severance award, had been rejected since they were not employees of the Ghana Airways at the time of the liquidation.
“The official liquidator will continue with the settlement of severance awards as soon as it receives further inflows, including the second tranche of the government funding of $4.5 million,” she explained.