In a stinging rebuke of alleged state-led “economic sabotage,” the Mankralo of the Ga State and Paramount Chief of Sempe, Nii Adote Otintor II, has called for the immediate reinstatement of McDan Aviation to its private FBO terminal.
This follows what he described as a lawless “midnight raid” by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL).
The traditional leader’s intervention follows a dramatic escalation of a commercial dispute that saw GACL officials allegedly seize the Terminal 1 facility in the early hours of March 11, an act the Chief claims was carried out in open defiance of a court injunction.
According to the Paramount Chief, GACL officials forcibly entered the private terminal at 1:00 a.m., just 24 hours after being served with legal papers intended to halt the eviction.
“This act of ‘midnight justice’ is a stain on our democracy,” Nii Adote Otintor II stated in a press release.
He criticized the company for ignoring a mandatory 90-day notice period required for eviction, arguing that the haste was designed to bypass the judicial system and dismantle a multimillion-dollar indigenous investment.
While GACL has previously cited payment delays as a reason for friction, the Mankralo clarified that McDan Aviation acted in good faith, fully settling all outstanding debts despite global economic pressures.
The Chief questioned why an indigenous firm, which built a world-class private jet terminal putting Ghana on the global aviation map, is being met with “state-sponsored hostility” rather than the support typically afforded to foreign investors.
“To collapse a business over a rectified administrative matter is nothing short of economic sabotage,” the statement read.
“Are we comfortable with our own people prospering, or is the system designed to turn against success once it becomes ‘too audacious’?”
The dispute has taken on a wider political dimension, with the Paramount Chief highlighting “whispers” that the takeover is intended to benefit individuals close to the corridors of power.
He warned that if politics is allowed to swallow local businessmen, the nation risks destroying the backbone of its own economy and scaring away future generations of Ghanaian entrepreneurs.
As the custodian of the land upon which the airport sits, Nii Adote Otintor II issued a formal demand to the President of the Republic and the Ministry of Transport to intervene immediately.
The Chief is demanding that GACL stop all lawless actions that defy the courts and undermine local investment, and restore McDan Aviation to the Terminal 1 FBO facility to protect the national asset and the jobs it provides.
He also wants the government to ensure all disputes are handled through legal channels rather than “midnight raids and intimidation.”
”We will not stand by and watch our indigenous businesses be dismantled,” the Chief reiterated. “Stop killing our spirit!”
By 1960news.com
