Funding is needed to Sustain BAGAIA – BAGAIA Commissioner

The commissioner of the Banjul Accord Group Accident Investigation Agency (BAGAIA), Engr. Charles Irikefe Erhueh, on Monday, urged all member states to ensure that there is adequate funding for the organization.

He said this at the technical committee meeting at Kempinsky Hotel, Accra on 8th November, 2021 where committee members met to deliberate on the future of investigating accidents in the sub-region on a theme “The Harmonization of the BAGAIA Policy and Procedure Manuals.”

Engr. Erhueh told the house that, “every kind of support we need to grow this organization and make sure the benefits accruable go round to all the sub-region is dictated by funding and it is what funding is calling for.” He further stated that, the commission had helped Ghana and Sierra Leone to establish their own independent accident investigation organization and they were in the process of helping Liberia achieve same “to put their aviation on the global map once again” – he said.

The commissioner of (BAGAIA), Engr. Charles Irikefe Erhueh

However, according to the commissioner, most of the member states have failed “to meet their financial obligation and this has hindered BAGAIA projects like manpower training, equipment procurement for investigation as well as assisting member states in having their own investigative body.”

The Deputy Minister of Transport, Frederick Obeng Adom, reading a speech on behalf of the Minister of Transportation, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, said that Ghana was ” committed to assist in any way possible” to sustain and strengthen BAGAIA. “We remain committed to fulfilling all our obligations to BAGAIA and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)” and used the “opportunity to call on member states to also demonstrate similar commitments” – Obeng Adom.

Deputy Minister of Transport, Frederick Obeng Adom

He furthered on by saying that the Government of Ghana “will continue to provide the necessary support and policy direction to ensure that the AIB is well capacitated, strengthened and strategically positioned to perform its functions effectively.” The minister tasked BAGAIA to keep providing technical support and guidance to Ghana as the country wanted to maintain its highest effective implementation score of 89.89% in terms of safety and security awarded by ICAO in 2019.

The Aircraft Incident and Accident Bureau (AIB) is mandated by ICAO and BAGAIA to be independent in its functions without any government interference.