The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) says the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) owes it more than GH¢50 million in statutory payments, placing additional strain on the agency’s finances and operations.
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.
The Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) is also mandated to pay 5% of airport passenger taxes to the meteorological agency.
GMet says an agreement was reached in March 2026 for the GCAA to settle outstanding arrears, but the agency says the payments remain incomplete.
Speaking to Citi News on Tuesday, August 18, GMet Director-General Dr Eric Asuman said one of the major challenges is the agency’s inability to independently verify flight data used to calculate its statutory share.
According to him, repeated efforts to gain access to the GCAA’s flight database have not yielded the desired results.
He said the lack of access makes it difficult for GMet to independently monitor flight movements and establish whether the statutory payments being made by the GCAA accurately reflect the revenue generated.
Dr Asuman said the disagreement over the payments has persisted for several years and has reached the attention of Parliament’s Select Committee.
He explained that in 2023, the Ghana Airports Company began paying its statutory contribution to GMet and requested the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to facilitate the direct transfer of GMet’s share.
According to him, IATA subsequently advised the GCAA to issue an authorisation letter to enable a similar arrangement for the aviation authority’s contribution.
However, he said the required authorisation letter has not been issued since 2023.
“As we speak, since 2023 till now, that letter has not been sent. And when they also receive their funds, they don’t transmit the GMet component, which is 10% landing, 10% en route, as stipulated by law to GMet,” he said.
Dr Asuman said the issue has created ongoing tension between the two institutions, prompting parliamentary intervention.
“And it has been a serious challenge and a banter between the two institutions to the extent that the parliamentary select committee intervened on this matter. And so it is true. By law, they are supposed to give us this money, but they are not complying as stipulated by law,” he said.
He said the financial constraints come at a time when GMet requires additional resources to strengthen weather forecasting, aviation meteorology and other services that are critical to national development.
The agency is therefore calling for a transparent mechanism that will enable it to independently verify flight data, accurately determine the statutory amounts due to it and ensure that the required payments are made on time.
