The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has debunked allegations that the Presidential aircraft of the Force was used by relatives of the President for a shopping trip to the United Kingdom.
Earlier reports initiated by Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability and carried by media houses suggested that the jet was accessed by the relatives of President Nana Akufo-Addo between the period of December 20 and 30, 2021.
Part of the allegations read “so between 20th and 30th of December 2021, during the Christmas, the children of a close relative of the President took Ghana’s Presidential Jet the Falcon EX jet on a trip to the UK just for Christmas shopping.”
But, per GAF’s checks, the said aircraft has not been to Europe for a very long time, making the publication “untrue, frivolous and without any basis… and a figment of the authors imagination”.
“We believe that this unfortunate publication, which has been circulated widely, is a calculated effort to undermine the image of the Ghana Armed Forces in the eyes of the general public. More disturbing is the fact that whilst the GAF is focused on its mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the country against serious external and internal threats, others are working very hard to distract us from our core mandate,” a part of the statement reads.
The GAF, by it’s statement, is admonishing the public not to drag the Force into partisan politics.
“We are calling on all Ghanaians, especially politicians once again, not to drag the GAF into any partisan politics. The Ghana Air Force platforms will continue to be used for the interest of all Ghanaians including its traditional role of maintaining fighter ground attack capabilities and providing close air support during operations, as well as providing transport support to the Ghana Armed Forces. We will continue to provide surveillance over the air space of Ghana and over the Exclusive Economic Zone of the country,” it said.
The matter has since been referred to the Inspector General of Police for further investigations.