Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa says the new jet won't cost less than $100m
But Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said govt shouldn't burden Ghanaians
The government of Ghana has been asked to desist from its decision of buying a new executive aircraft for the President.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP, North Tongu, who made this call indicated that the expenditure that accompanies the purchase of a new aircraft is needless, therefore, any consultations and engagement with aircraft manufacturers should be halted.
Speaking on Joy FM, the Ranking Member for the Committee on Foreign Affairs said, the aircraft the government of Ghana intends to purchase will not cost less than $100 million.
“This cannot be a priority – this financial obligation which you want to impose very soon on the Ghanaian taxpayer depending on when you conclude your consultation. The Ghanaian people should not be saddled with this financial obligation.
“The cost of aircraft does not come cheap, per my market survey. That is not chicken change and you would have to pay now, you must come up with the money now before the delivery is made whether in two or three years,” Ablakwa stated.
The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul had mentioned in Parliament on Tuesday, December 14, that the purchase of a presidential aircraft is paramount for government business and the procurement of a new aircraft is necessary, particularly in the absence of Ghana Airways.
Ntiwul indicated that the government of Ghana is currently holding consultations on the purchase of an aircraft with the likelihood of backtracking on the procurement if need be.
He said, the government has already contacted two manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing, on the purchase of the aircraft.
Okudzeto Ablakwa noted that aircraft manufacturers can take a number of three years to build and deliver a customer’s preferred aircraft but the payment is done upfront.
“You would have to pay now. You must come up with the money now before the delivery is made whether, in two or three years. It is the same thing that happened when the Falcon was purchased,” he said. “President Kufuor had to come up with the money in 2008 from Societe Generale. As for the manufacturers, they don’t care where you get the money from, you must deliver the funds, commit them, and then they would deliver at the end of the manufacturing timeline.”
He stressed, “we are saying that you have no business engaging in consultation, just stop it. This cannot be a priority. This is a country that at this point in time, our frontline health workers, we still owe them. The promises we made to them, we say that we don’t have all the money to take care of them.
“Noguchi still has major issues and concerns about the equipment they need, we are still struggling to raise an adequate number of vaccines, thanks to the benevolence of other countries we would not even have had vaccines at all. These are the matters that people expect the government to focus on,” Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa added.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa