Please, allow me to open this piece with these questions:  “What do you see about Ghana’s premier airport that  makes you feel proud as a Ghanaian (or as a friend of Ghana)?”  Or, “As a Ghanaian what would you tout as a point of reference, admiration and attraction to anyone?”  More directly, “If you’re a rich investor  whose decision to invest in a country depends on what you observe or experience at an airport, would you consider Ghana a viable investment option based on what you see at the country’s main airport?”

Just last week, within 30 minutes of my KLM/Delta flight (from Accra) landing at John F Kennedy, (JFK,) Airport in New York, I had collected my two pieces of luggage and left the airport.  This seems to be the normal or standard time for most airports I have used, whether it is Dubai in the UAE, Newark Liberty in New Jersey or Heathrow or Gatwick in the UK. 

Too long at Kotoka

Compare this time at JFK in New York to the time it took me just a week earlier at Kotoka International Airport in Accra when it took me nearly two hours from the plane’s landing to the time of my departure from the airport.  If you’re thinking, “But, you must not compare New York to Accra,” then please, with all due respect, I will have to say that you are part of the problem that’s afflicting and holding back Ghana and Africa.  There should be no excuse whatsoever in this day and age for not having in Ghana the same standards, structures and systems that work so well in the advanced countries. 

We have to believe that what is great and available in New York should be possible in Accra.  Well, that’s the “crazy” thinking or belief some of us carry.

The “stench” or “stain” of the baggage carousel

 We have to first acknowledge that something ‘rotten’ and unacceptable is happening at the Kotoka International Airport that is damaging to the reputation of Ghana.  The real problem is specifically located around the baggage carousel or collection point.   It doesn’t have to take anyone close to two hours from landing to departure from Kotoka Airport.  This is not the first, second, or third time that I have observed the unusually long and chaotic process around the baggage collection area.  It is an entrenched problem that can be solved, (and not be accepted, in a typical “Ghanaian-ostrich-head-in-the-sand” manner.)  

The saddest irony of these current observations is that Kotoka international Airport has seen some admirable improvements over the past couple of years, specifically in the arrival hall and also at the Immigration counters.  To the credit of the authorities and staff at this major airport, you’ll now observe a brighter, more beautiful and more welcoming arrival tunnel or hall, compared to, say, two years ago. 

It used to look cramped, semi-dark, and unwelcoming a few years back.  The Health Check desks are so well manned, with some speed, professionalism and pleasantness that there is no delay as you proceed from the main entrance to Immigration. 

The Immigration Area – though not yet world class – also shows significant improvements and the process on the whole is pretty smooth, in my opinion. 

In fact, as a Ghanaian standing in line to be processed, you’ll begin to feel a sense of pride as you compare the performance of our Ghanaian brothers and sisters at Immigration, with your experiences in say, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg, Kigali or even Heathrow or Schiphol.

Free live music and free water

For the sake of the majority of readers who have not used Kotoka international airport in the past couple of years, let me explain that arriving international passengers are getting treated to something not seen in many airports around the globe:  live – mainly instrumental – welcoming music that ‘initially’ appears innovative and well thought out.  “Initially,” is the key word here for now.  This sort of welcome does not happen in Heathrow (London,) JFK (New York,) or Schiphol (Amsterdam.)  Nice live music for arriving passengers – wow! 

Then to raise the bar a little more, passengers are also met by someone dishing out free bottles of cool water just before you reach the baggage carousels. Wow, what a nice expression of the lofty Ghanaian tradition of offering water to guests as soon as they arrive in your home.  So far, so good.

You begin to feel a sense of pride, progress, and patriotism as you remember that Heathrow and JFK do not provide free bottled water.  In fact, at JFK – unlike Heathrow too – you have to pay at least $5 for the trolley.  “Wow, Ghana is good.  We’re doing better than the US and UK in this department,” you would think. 

There are no touts or “goro boys” pretending to be assisting you find your luggage in an effort to extort a few dollars from you.  They’ve been cleared, thanks to the authorities.  There are no long, irritating queues, like you see at Heathrow and JFK, where you briefly wished you had carried the passport of the host or receiving nation, as non-citizens and non-EU passengers are given the proverbial “cattle-class” treatment.  All this happening just about 15 to 20 minutes from the plane touching down.  

Reality hits:  Then, within half an hour, reality hits you at the baggage carousel.  The 15-minute waiting time you anticipated turns into an hour, with the lack of proper air conditioning hitting you in the face and under your armpit.  You feel you have been hoodwinked by the free live music and cool water. 

All the goodwill, praise, and pride you developed until this point begin to look like traps or advance courtesies ahead of the travail to come.  The usual Ghanaian saying is, “Suffer to gain,” but you’re experiencing the reverse, “You’ve gained free stuff and now it’s time to suffer,” it seems. 

You start to ignore the welcoming music man or woman.  You even start to feel irritated or resentful towards the music.  “What is the use or benefit of a live performer at the arrival hall when you’re kept anxiously waiting for too long at the baggage carousel?” you think to yourself. 

Now, you think back at the kind water-man who gave you that free water and wonder if you were given the water in anticipation of the long and frustrating wait for your bags?  You suddenly catch childhood flashes of how a chicken destined for the pot is first given water before it is slaughtered.  “So the music and the water were just a ploy to soothe you ahead of the anxious and unhappy wait to come?”

Chaos around the carousel

As you wait and try to manage your irritation, a level of chaos begins to build around the carousel.  Trolleys are getting in the way of the anxious passengers trying to locate their pieces of luggage. Some camaraderie emerges among some of the passengers.  Some try to exchange jokes and mutual anticipation. 

“Your bags will be here soon.  We have hope,” someone says.  “I hope they didn’t leave my bags behind during transit,” you heard someone respond.  Soon, the jokes begin to fade as the chaos increases with little effectiveness by the staff to establish some order.   The carousel seems too small. 

You find some energy to ask one of the staff why the delay.  You are told calmly that it’s because every bag has to be scanned first – to ensure there are no contrabands in them - before being placed on the carousel.  But JFK and Heathrow also do these security scannings …. And I don’t recall spending this length of time at any of those airports.   JFK and Heathrow have huge volumes of flights daily but no one waits this long for bags on arrival at those places. 

Why should it be different in Accra?  Clearly, something ‘stinks’ around that baggage carousel.  Something is clearly flawed with the system of baggage delivery at Kotoka Airport. 

With the developing chaos the area begins to look like a typical chaotic market scene in any major Ghanaian community. Makola market comes to mind instantly!  Somehow the place eventually functions but at the cost of time and frayed nerves.

How ‘international’ are we?

We must ask ourselves, “If it takes this long to clear one flight then what would it be like with several flights arriving in quick succession?”  There are times at Heathrow and JFK or Newark in New Jersey when you have planes landing at the rate of one a minute.

 With the current Kotoka Airport carousel situation you can imagine the chaos would be multiplied many times over if planes should be landing at one a minute in Accra.    Another critical Ghana-first or Ghana prosperity question that must be answered is, “How are we going to serve as the Gateway of Africa when we can’t even handle our baggage clearance in an expeditious or international way?”  Again, “How can we compete with the Heathrows and Gatwicks and JFKs or O’Hares or the Dubais?” 

Even if we’re “small” in comparison why can’t we develop the big airport mentality and principles to be admired by anyone who’s familiar with the efficiencies of the best airports in the world?  What is really wrong at Kotoka International Airport?  What is wrong with us?

Only the best is good for Ghana

 In conclusion, we must commend a great number of Ghanaian brothers and sisters who are making things better, safer, and truly admirable at our Kotoka International Airport. 

However, the baggage carousel delays are eroding every praise, pleasantness and pride that recent improvements have brought to the airport.  This ‘stench’ must be removed so we can all be truly proud of Kotoka International Airport. 

Are we saying that we don’t have one or two sisters and brothers at the airport who can take a couple of weeks to study the unusually long baggage clearance system and improve the delivery time to match what every reputable international airport does? 

It seems also that some of the staff have settled into accepting the unacceptable and are sometimes unsympathetic to the genuine complaints of frustrated passengers.  They seem to have become immune or used to this abnormality.  Could we not send or sponsor a couple of the key or relevant staff to visit Heathrow, JFK and Schiphol, to learn some quick lessons in speedy baggage delivery and bring their knowledge and experience to bear on our problem?  Why should this be happening time and again, sometimes with just one flight arrival at the airport?

Impressions, reputation and investments

First impressions, we are told, are very important.  The baggage clearance process on arrival is giving many visitors a very bad impression of our homeland, Ghana.  It doesn’t have to be so.  Something must change for the better at the baggage-carousel area.  Until there is an improvement in this critical area, passengers will not fully appreciate the free live music and free bottles of cool water they are given on arrival.  Do we have the attitude and systems at our main airport to command respect, good talk and admiration internationally?

Only the best will do for Ghana.

We are all involved.

So, let us be the solution-finders that can make our nation great, strong and respected internationally.