Dormaa East Member of Parliament (MP) has filed an urgent question, asking for the cost of chartered flights used by former President John Mahama between 2013 and 2016.
Paul Apraku Twum Barimah believes the question to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will address the current controversy over purchasing a presidential jet.
“It is, therefore, important that as a country we look at how we can collectively come together to resolve all these issues.
“I have filed the question to also understand how much it cost this country between 2013 to 2017 when our president [former President Mahama] was on series of travels, using chartered flights,” he said to Joy News.
Mr Barimah believes this would also assist the citizenry in making a “proper comparative analysis” and also to “understand what position we need to take as a country if we are to purchase a new aircraft,” for presidents or continue to use state funds to charter flights for elected leaders during their foreign trips.
The MP further dismissed claims that the question filed is an attempt to seek political equalisation over concerns raised by North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
The Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee filed an urgent question in Parliament demanding that the government explains why President Nana Akufo-Addo did not use the presidential aircraft for a recent trip to France.
According to him: “It is an outrage and a blatant betrayal for Ghana to own a presidential aircraft in perfect working condition” and charter aircraft for Presidential travel.
In a Facebook post, he said: “Let’s further analyse President Akufo-Addo’s latest trip to Europe: per Flightradar24, the G-KELT aircraft left Accra with the President to Paris on the 16th of May — a six and half hour duration. Airlifted the President from Paris to Johannesburg for 11 hours on the 23rd of May. Then Johannesburg to Accra on the 25th of May was a five and half hour flight. This gives us an accumulated flight travel of 23 hours; so at £15,000 an hour, it thus cost us a colossal £345,000. At current exchange, that is a staggering GHS2,828,432.80.”