Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency has revealed President Akuffo Addo had others options but he deliberately decided to blow the already stressed public purse on luxurious jet for his personal comfort to the detriment of the suffering masses.
Speaking to Citizen Kofi, the award winning Morning Show Host of the Year for Greater Accra on Ahotor92.3 fm , Hon. Samuel Okudzeto revealed that President Akufo-Addo could have opted for a different jet at an affordable cost or better used Ghana’s Presidential Jet which according to him was in good condition at the time.
He indicated that it’s not entirely true that President Akuffo Addo couldn’t have travelled in a business class of a commercial flight because his predecessors like John Kufuor, John Mills and John Mahama used same in their respective days and same can be said about President Akuffo Addo in the early stages of his presidency.
He therefore wondered what could actually be the motivation for President Akufo-Addo to be jeting around the globe begging for debt cancellation and loans in the most luxurious aircraft ever produced by Airbus.
Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa is one of the persons who lifted the lid on the ostentatious spendings of the president .
Below is what he posted on his Facebook page
President Akufo-Addo has been a leading voice for debt forgiveness in the international arena and back home has been imposing additional regressive taxes with the justification that the economy isn’t in a good place.
Sadly, he consistently fails to lead by example in a period of austerity where his government is appealing to struggling public sector workers to lower wage increase expectations.
It is an outrage and a blatant betrayal for Ghana to own a presidential aircraft in perfect working condition which was ordered by President Kufuor, used by President Mills and President Mahama; and yet President Akufo-Addo chooses to charter a top-of-the-range luxury aircraft offered by Acropolis Aviation.
The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as “the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets.” It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately £15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it.
The aircraft in issue is less than two years old and had only returned from Switzerland where it received the highest luxurious spruce up ever known in the aviation world just before President Akufo-Addo chose that particular luxurious monster. The jet can take up to 150 people in ordinary circumstances, however, it has been configured to accommodate only 17 royal passengers. The spectacularly opulent aircraft comes equipped with a lavish master bedroom, an imposing en-suite bathroom, monarchial dining facilities and round the clock IT connectivity.
President Akufo-Addo undoubtedly has the greatest taste any Ghanaian President has ever had but the question is, should that insatiable appetite for his creature comforts be at the expense of the suffering masses?
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 6 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.
Aviation experts inform me it would have cost Ghana less than 15% of this 2.8million Ghana Cedis had President Akufo-Addo opted for Ghana’s available presidential jet which is in pristine condition. Alternatively, far more affordable travel arrangements are available which could have aligned with the President’s rhetoric for sympathy from the west for African nations.
The irony is that President Akufo-Addo engaged in this fantastic extravagance on his way to France to go beg President Emmanuel Macron for debt cancellation. Needless to add that President MacRon does not travel in such splendour.
Let us imagine what GHS2.8million could do for our country, particularly considering the mess in multiple sectors which has led to legitimate #FixTheCountryNow agitations by the youth.
I have therefore filed an urgent question in Parliament to compel the Akufo-Addo administration to be accountable to the Ghanaian people on this matter and ultimately to prick their conscience to end this obscene profligacy at this time of considerable economic hardships.
The African people deserve better from their leaders.
Ahotoronline.com/ Ivan Kyei Innocent
