Accra: The Director-General of the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), Dr Eric Asuman, has revealed that the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) owes the agency more than GHS50 million in statutory payments.
According to Ghana Web, the outstanding payments are putting financial pressure on GMet and affecting its ability to sustain some of its operations. The agency requires adequate funding to strengthen weather forecasting, aviation meteorology, and other critical services. Under the amended Ghana Meteorological Agency Act, 2019 (Act 1002), the GCAA is required to remit 10% of en-route, overflight, and landing fees to GMet. Additionally, the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) is required to pay 5% of airport passenger taxes to the agency.
Dr Asuman stated that an agreement was reached in March 2026 for the GCAA to settle the outstanding arrears; however, the payments have not been fully made. Speaking in an interview with Channel One TV on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, he identified GMet's lack of access to the GCAA's flight database as one of the major challenges facing the agency. According to him, GMet has made repeated efforts to gain access to the database but has been unsuccessful.
He explained that the lack of access prevents the agency from independently verifying flight movements and determining whether the statutory payments made by the GCAA are accurate. He noted that the dispute has persisted for several years and has even required the intervention of Parliament's Select Committee. Dr Asuman highlighted that in 2023, the Ghana Airports Company began paying its share of contributions to GMet, requesting the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to facilitate direct payments to GMet.
However, Dr Asuman added that IATA advised Civil Aviation to provide an authorisation letter to enable them to do the same for their share that should go to GMet. Despite this advice, the letter has not been sent, and when GCAA receives funds, they fail to transmit the GMet component, which is 10% of landing fees and 10% of en-route fees, as stipulated by law, to GMet. Dr Asuman has called for a mechanism that would allow GMet to independently verify flight data and ensure all statutory payments due to the agency are properly calculated and paid.