General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has registered his displeasure over the Defence Minister’s justification of President Akufo-Addo’s hire of a luxurious flight, which allegedly cost £15,000 per hour.
The Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, addressing Parliament on Wednesday, said the safety of the President, as well as the capacity of the aircraft, were paramount in the decision to hire the G -KELT airplane.
He also mentioned that “in this Covid Era, when you are travelling to multiple destinations like the President’s recent trip, Falcon jet couldn’t have been taken because we would have had to do technical stops which are not desirable. When he is travelling with more than 20 people like he has been doing that has brought huge sums of money to this country the President may need not just the Falcon.”
But Speaking on Adom TV Thursday, Mr Nketia described his assertion as a cock and bull story, insisting that the luxurious aircraft is not the only aeroplane that can guarantee the safety of the President.
For him, the justification by the Minister is insulting to the Ghanaian populace whose taxes are being used to fund such trips.
“I was shocked to hear the Minister saying that we don’t expect the President to travel in a trotro, he is insulting Ghanaians. Has anybody implied that the President should travel in a trotro? We are telling you that Ghana cannot afford that kind of luxury.
“Is he saying that this luxurious plane is safer than any other Jet in the world? His justification is a cock and bull story I hope that we will deal with it,” he added.
Listen to General Mosquito in the audio below:
In the same vein, an Aerospace expert, Dr Akparibo Yakubu has given indication that the current presidential aircraft, Falcon 900 is designed and capable of making non-stop trips to almost all of Europe.
He rejected Dominic Nitiwul’s claim that the presidential jet can fly for a minimum of 8 hours before being refueled.