Akufo-Addo’s luxury jet: Defence, Finance Ministers to answer questions in Parliament

• The Defence and Financial Ministers will be in Parliament this week to answer a question filed by North Tongu MP

• He claims Akufo-Addo hired a private jet recently for her trip at GH¢2.8 million

• He noted the flight was hired at £15,000 per hour

As part of a response to an urgent question filed by the North Tongu MP regarding a luxurious private jet President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hired at GH¢2.8 million for his foreign trips, the Defence and Finance Ministers are expected to answer the question the MP has filed.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on his Facebook timeline hinted that the President in his recent trip abroad hired a private jet for £15,000 per hour.

He indicated that per his calculation, President Akufo-Addo spent about GH¢2.8 million on the trip instead of using the presidential jet.

Ablakwa subsequently filed questions in parliament on the issue which has been admitted by the Speaker.

“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,” Ablakwa wrote.

“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.

“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 accumulated flight travel of 23 hours; so at £15,000 an hour, it thus cost us a colossal £345,000. At the current exchange, that is a staggering ¢2,828,432.80,” his post read further.

Per the business statement of the House this week, Dominic Nitiwul and Ken Ofori-Atta, the Defence and Finance Ministers respectively, are expected in Parliament on Wednesday and Thursday to respond to a question from Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on “whether the Presidential Jet (Dassault Falcon-9G-EXE) is in good condition and considered air-worthy” as well as “how much the President’s recent official travels to France, Belgium, and South Africa in May this year, cost the Ghanaian taxpayer”.

The business statement of Parliament clearly spells out the planned business of parliament.