Ghana’s Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul has stated that though the country’s presidential jet is in good condition, it lacks the capacity to accommodate the full membership of the President’s entourage whenever he is on an official duty outside the country.
According to him, the President must ideally travel with his Office, which is made up of some of his staffers; his security detail; as well as some members of the Presidential Press Corps.
He has also indicated that the current condition of the presidential flight does not allow for a continuous long-distance travel for more than 5 hours without having to stopover to refuel. These stopovers, according to him, is inconveniencing to the President in this era of COVID-19 as well as inconveniencing to host countries who may be forced to extend diplomatic courtesies to the President while refueling the jet.
The Minister made this known to Members of Parliament on Wednesday, June 16, 2021 when he appeared before the House to provide answers to an urgent question filed by the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzato Ablakwa.
The MP who wanted to know whether the Presidential Jet (Dassault Falcon-9G-EXE) is in good condition and considered air-worthy, had previously criticized President Akufo-Addo and his Government’s decision to charter a luxurious private jet for some official presidential travels.
The Minister in his answer said, “The current Falcon 900 Ex-Easy though serviceable lacks enough range to reach long haul destinations without refueling stops. This Falcon 900 Ex-Easy Jet will technically stop at Airports where the President does not intend to do a stopover and this could lead to unnecessary delays and placing a burden on an unintended host to offer diplomatic courtesies that they would not be ordinarily prepared for.
“Typically, a normal refueling stop takes about one hour but in this Covid era, refueling may take about two hours or more because the passengers have to disembark and or the country’s security has to enter the aircraft.”
The urgent question is coming at the back of criticisms of President Akufo-Addo’s Government decision to have allegedly chartered a £15,000 per hour luxury private jet for the President’s recent official travels which lasted for 23 hours.
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the cost of the private jet rental that President Akufo-Addo used for his recent working visit to France and Johannesburg is estimated at £345,000 equivalent to GHS2,828,432.80. He contended that the choice of the flight rented is a display of the ostentatious lifestyle of the President and a waste of the country’s scarce resources when the Presidential jet is in good condition.
In a Facebook post criticizing the decision of the President, the lawmaker indicated that “The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as “the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets.”
Source: Clement Akoloh||parliamentnews360.com
