Few days after the sacking of Yaw Kwakwa, the former managing director of Ghana Airports Company Limited by the President, the aviation agency has appointed Pamela Djamson-Tettey as new managing director to run the affairs of the company.
Yaw Kwakwa, was shown the way out following the controversy that surrounded the suspension of the inauguration of a private jet terminal at Kotoka International Airport (KIA), to be operated by McDan Aviation.
According to gh-aviation.com, an emergency meeting held by the board of the Ghana Airports Company Limited on Wednesday, 16th February 2022 saw Yaw Kwakwa, the former Managing Director submitting a resignation letter taking effect from 17th February, 2022.
A new Managing Director has been appointed in the person of Pamela Djamson-Tettey who comes in as the 3rd female MD of the organization since 2007.
Pamela has over 25 years’ experience in senior management including 9 years in the mining industry, 9 years in the manufacturing sector and 5 years in the power sector. “Well networked with a confident approach and integrity, she is strategically astute, possesses a strong ability to build sustainable relationships, with excellent interpersonal communication and language skills” – the statement said.
According to atqnews.com, McDan Aviation was scheduled to open a private jet terminal at the Kotoka International Airport, but it was suspended by the Ghana Airport Company Limited for failure to comply with the terms and conditions for the use and operations of Terminal 1 as a Private terminal.
The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah in a letter to the Board Chairman of the Ghana Airport Company said “in this regard, kindly take the necessary steps to give effect to the directive. I count on your cooperation.”
Mr. Kwakwa was interacting with the press at the McDan terminal while the Transport Committee of Parliament was inspecting the facility when the news came in.
Although the letter did not state the reason for his dismissal, it is suspected to be as a result of the current McDan aviation tussle.
McDan Aviation announced the suspension of its private jet operations at Terminal 1 of the Kotoka International Airport to enable the management of the company to hold talks with the Ghana Airport Company Limited over contentions regarding operational procedures.
This was after the GACL, in a letter dated January 31, 2022, indefinitely barred McDan Aviation from operating its private jet services at the Terminal 1 of the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
Chief Executive of the McDan Group, Daniel Mckorley, stated that the idea behind the opening of the new private jet terminal is to create jobs for the teeming Ghanaian youth.
According to him, there are enormous opportunities in the aviation industry which he expects local entrepreneurs to take advantage of especially with the coming in of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement as well as Ghana hosting its secretariat.
The new MD Pamela’s areas of expertise include Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Communications, Branding, Media and Public Relations, Investor Relations, Government, Diplomatic Relations and Sustainable Development Management.
Pamela was the Executive Director and Director Corporate Relations at Diageo Ghana- Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) from 2001-2009.
As a member of the Board of Directors of GGBL and a key member of the GGBL Executive team her responsibilities included a wide range of business critical agendas including; Corporate Communications, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Planning, Corporate Brand, Reputation Management, Sustainable Development and key Spokesperson for GGBL.
She holds a BA (Cum Laude) degree in International Relations from the United States International University Herts. UK and San Diego California, USA (1982-1985); Postgraduate Diploma (Merit), Politics & Diplomacy, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK (1985 – 1986) and an MA degree in International Relations, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK (1986-1987).
She is also an ‘Accredited’ member of the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Ghana.
With Pamela coming in as the 3rd female MD, there seems to be a balance in gender in appointing Managing Directors for the organization. Since 2007, there’s been 5 appointments before her. Essie Anno-Sackey, Doreen Owusu- Fianko, Charles Kwame Asare, John Dekyem Attafuah and Yaw Kwakwa were her predecessors.
