The minority group in Ghana’s Parliament has shot down plans by government to procure new and bigger Presidential Jet for the country.
Even before government will give details of the planned procurement, minority through MP for North Tongu Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said he and his colleagues will not endorse any attempt to purchase new Aircraft for the Presidency when the old Jet is laying idle.
“I must say emphatically that we will not back any deal to buy new Presidential Jet. There is nothing wrong with the current Presidential Jet”.
The government has initiated process to acquire a new and bigger presidential jet. This was disclosed by the Director of Communication at the Presidency Eugene Arhin when he briefed the Presidential Press Corp on Monday September 27, 2021.
Although he did not give further and better particulars of the latest move by government to get new Presidential Aircraft, he only said the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul is handling the processes and expected to announce details soon.
“You would recollect that Minister of Defense has made it clear that government has decided to buy a bigger Jet to save us from all this troubles. I wouldn’t want to go into details but I’m sure when Minister of Defense has opportunity to give further information as to what government is doing with respect to that, I’m sure you will know about it”.
“I know for a fact that, yes he rightly indicated, government is already in the process of acquiring a bigger jet for use”
However, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa who for some times now, have been advocating the President and his entourage cut the profligate traveling and travel with business class, said the latest decision will not be in the interest of “suffering citizens”.
It is for this reason that we are not going to endorse any scheme to make the President live in luxury at the expense of suffering Ghanaians, we won’t back that, he insisted.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa was on record to have called for a national policy on Presidential travels.
He posted on his Facebook wall that “It has become absolutely imperative to demand a national policy on presidential travels akin to what pertains in other jurisdictions. This is most crucial to avoid the wanton abuse of discretion by President Akufo-Addo at the expense of the suffering taxpayer”.
He went on that “The Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration must govern with a conscience and with true sincerity. How can you ask protesting #FixTheCountry youth, covid frontline healthcare workers, organised labour including agitating members of UTAG, GNAT, NAGRAT, Senior Staff Association-University of Ghana (SSA-UoG), Federation of Universities Senior Staff Association, GMA and a host of others to burden share and accept a paltry 4% wage increase to be paid by installment and still proceed to engage in such cruel wasteful extravagance?”.
He called on President Nana Addo to sell the presidential jet and use the proceeds to buy vaccines, if he thinks the Jet is no longer in good shape to travel, contrary to some aviation experts who insisted the country’s Presidential Jet is safe to travel with.
A National Presidential Travel Policy is a MUST and we need it NOW, the post concluded.
