North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP) Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has replied the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, on the whereabouts of Ghana’s Presidential Jet.
Mr Ablakwa, said a statement issued by Mr Arhin in response to his earlier comment on the jet, only confirms his revelations.
“The Ghana Presidency today has confirmed the following; that Ghana’s presidential jet has indeed been flown nonstop from Accra to Paris on August 30 2022 as I put out.
“That government consistently deceived Ghanaians when they claimed that Ghana’s Presidential jet was no longer fit for direct flights beyond 6 hours to destinations such as France, Belgium, UK and the Netherlands.
“This therefore further exposes the unjustified and unconscionable profligate €20,000 an hour oligarchic charters which have so far cost the suffering tax payer more than GHS 34 million.”
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His comments, come after the Director of Communications at the Presidency, asked him to minimize his quest for propaganda regarding the presidential jet.
In the view of Mr Arhin, this will help Mr Ablakwa to avoid further embarrassments to his person.
This comes after Mr Ablakwa, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday September 7, that “I disclose with absolute certainty and without fear of contradiction that a few days before President Akufo-Addo’s current travel to The Netherlands and France, Ghana’s Presidential Jet — the Falcon 900EX was on Tuesday August 30, 2022 flown non-stop to France for a flight time of 6 hours and 24minutes from Accra.
“It is instructive to note that contrary to what Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Eugene Arhin, would want us believe as per his earlier claims that the Presidential Jet is no longer fit to fly direct beyond 6 hours— a dubious claim which now stands discredited; the Presidential Jet on this latest trip was flown direct or non-stop for 6hours and 24minutes to Paris, France.”
But reacting to him, Mr Arhin, said “Contrary to the insinuations being cast by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, no one “used the Presidential Jet to France”, and no one is using the Presidential Jet in France.
The only persons who flew the jet to France, are the crew made up of pilots from the Ghana Air Force.”
Mr Arhin in his post said “my attention has been drawn to a Facebook post made by Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, regarding the use of the presidential jet, and my responses are as follows:
- Contrary to the insinuations being cast by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, no one “used the Presidential Jet to France”, and no one is using the Presidential Jet in France. The only persons who flew the jet to France are the crew made up of pilots from the Ghana Air Force.
- Indeed, the Presidential Jet departed Ghana on 30th August to France for major repair works to be carried out on it – repair works which are very much long overdue. The Air Force, has indicated that the Presidential Jet will be out of service for a total of four (4) months, and will return to Ghana and be available for use in December. It will be recalled that in May this year, the Minister for Defence, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul, alerted Ghanaians to the fact that the Presidential Jet would be flown to France for major repair works to be undertaken on it.
- In view of this, how Hon. Ablakwa expects President Akufo-Addo to return to Ghana on Saturday, 10th September, from his current trip to the Netherlands and France on board the Presidential Jet, which is undergoing major repair works and is scheduled to return to Ghana in December, beats my imagination.
- I would urge Hon. Ablakwa to minimize his penchant for engaging in propaganda regarding the Presidential Jet, to avoid further embarrassments to his person. Mr Ablakwa responded on Facebook by saying “I can disclose with absolute certainty and without fear of contradiction that a few days before President Akufo-Addo’s current travel to The Netherlands and France, Ghana’s Presidential Jet — the Falcon 900EX was on Tuesday August 30, 2022 flown non-stop to France for a flight time of 6hours and 24minutes from Accra. “It is instructive to note that contrary to what Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr. Eugene Arhin, would want us believe as per his earlier claims that the Presidential Jet is no longer fit to fly direct beyond 6 hours— a dubious claim which now stands discredited; the Presidential Jet on this latest trip was flown direct or non-stop for 6hours and 24minutes to Paris, France. “Ghana’s Presidential Jet is still in France as at today the 7th of September, 2022 since landing at the Paris Le Bourget International Airport at 3:20pm on August 30, 2022.
Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo, left Accra on the night of September 3, 2022 aboard KLM after delaying the commercial flight.
“More fundamentally, government owes the Ghanaian people — who have every right to know — urgent and important clarifications on the following:
1) Who used the Presidential Jet to France and what is the purpose of the trip?
2) Why did the government not pursue judiciousness and frugality by harmonizing both travels to save taxpayer funds, particularly in this period of IMF bailout economic crisis, especially considering that the Presidential Jet flew to the same enclave within the same week of the President’s travel?
3) Will President Akufo-Addo exhibit some modicum of prudence and respect for his pledge to protect the public purse by returning home on the 10th of September, 2022 aboard Ghana’s Presidential Jet or the wastefulness will continue with the apparently needless multiple opaque flight arrangements?
In his earlier post, the MP said that “the Defence Minister, Hon. Dominic Nitiwul deliberately misled Ghanaians when he announced on May 25, 2022 that the Presidential Jet would be flown out to France for Servicing at the end of May this year for “four to five months.”
“That our comprehensive and unimpeachable tracking confirms that contrary to the announcement by the Defence Minister in May, the Presidential Jet was not flown for servicing that month or any other period subsequently and that the Presidential Jet has always been available for the President’s use. It is now apparent that announcement was part of a grand scheme to create the impression the Presidential Jet was not available for many months so President Akufo-Addo would continue with his condemnable lavish and sybaritic lifestyle at the expense of struggling taxpayers;
“That even though our spirited agitation to stop the President from using his infamous €20,000-an-hour luxury chartered jets appear to be yielding results as the President flew commercial on this current trip, the public purse could have been better protected if schedules had been appropriately synchronized with the Presidential Jet;
“That unlike Mr Eugene Arhin, I am determined to focus on incontrovertible facts, ideas, and how to sincerely protect what is left of the already battered public purse, so I will ignore his unedifying invitation to engage in the politics of insults— I shall therefore forgive my junior Odade3.
