Okudzeto Ablakwa schools Nitiwul on how many presidential jets Ghana has had
Dassault Falcon 900 Ex-Easy aircraft
Akufo-Addo's quest to buy a new presidential jet 'insensitive'- Okudzeto Ablakwa
Read full articleDominic Ntiwul insists Ghana has no presidential jet
Minority vows to frustrate govt plans to purchase new jet
The conversation on whether or not Ghana should buy a new presidential jet has once again engaged the attention of Ghanaians as the government has revealed plans to purchase a new aircraft.
Defence Minister at the parliamentary sitting on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, averred that the country does not have a presidential jet but rather an executive jet which any government official can use.
"Ghana doesn't have [a] presidential jet. What we have is an executive jet; that's why when you [Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa] were reading, the current president [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] at the time used the term executive jet. Executive jet does not mean it is for the sole use of the president. In America, nobody can use Air Force 1 apart from the president and the vice. Even with that, the vice doesn't use; it is the president who uses Airforce 1. So we have an executive jet, and I'm saying to you that executive jet is used to do government business," Dominic Ntiwul said.
But in a sharp rebuttal to the minister's statement, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa pointed out that the country has had a total of 4 presidential jets, including the current Falcon 900 EXE.
"The records in this House will show that Ghana has had four presidential jets. The Falcon is our 4th presidential jet, so the minister cannot be right when he says that we don't have a presidential jet. The first presidential jet is the DH125 under President Nkrumah, Fokker 28 was the second, Gulfstream GIII was the third, and the Falcon 900 exe is the fourth presidential just for the record" he said.
Meanwhile, the ranking member on parliament's foreign affairs committee in a subsequent social media post has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, describing his quest to purchase a new presidential jet as "insensitive".
"Dishonesty and lack of candour wouldn't aid President Akufo-Addo's misguided quest to buy a new presidential jet. This agenda remains grossly insensitive and cannot be justified under any circumstance, particularly when parliament was told in 2008 that the current presidential jet has a lifespan of at least 20 years. The jet has been with us for only 11 years since it arrived in October 2010," he wrote on his Twitter timeline.
