The NDC Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said President Akufo-Addo has saved the suffering Ghanaian taxpayer a whopping €480,000 (GH₵ 6.5Million) by avoiding his “favorite profligate luxury-chartered jet” in his recent travels. He posted on his twitter page Monday afternoon.
According to the North Tongu MP, his unimpeachable tracking of President Akufo-Addo’s latest travel to the Munich Security Conference in Germany and AU meetings in Addis Ababa, he used Ghana’s Presidential Jet (Dassault Falcon 900 EX) for the entire 17hr: 53minute flight time.
“This is the prudent presidential conduct Ghanaians have been demanding for years, a sensitive and frugal leadership which could have saved over GH₵100million and perhaps averted the current economic crisis,” he said, adding that, “we hope President Akufo-Addo continues on this refreshing path till he leaves office.”
Seems there was no iota of lie in the words of the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. He is a known character amongst the NDC minority Caucus in Parliament and is better known for his jabs at wrong doers. For him to tweet this, the President must have really touched his heart through his actions of not going in for taste or preference but thinking of the Ghanaian citizens and the effect “expensive” would have on them.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Arrrived In Germany On February 16 Aboard The Presidential Jet.
The Falcon 900-EX Presidential Jet, only returned to Accra on Valentine’s Day from Paris, France for where it underwent full refurbishment over a six-month period.
Sources confirmed that the jet aside from refurbishment also underwent some retrofitting with avionics systems upgrade whiles in the French capital. It was also confirmed that the President used it after analyzing photos shared of Akufo-Addo’s arrival in Munich as shared by Gina Blay, the ambassador of Ghana to Germany.
The frontage of the jet with the Armed Forces logo embossed on it is captured in the first photo shared by the diplomat on Twitter. The President after disembarking, was met by a delegation of embassy officials at the airport. His engagement in Germany was in respect of the Munich Security Conference where he shared the stage on South-North Cooperation Townhall with Bill Gates and IMF Chief Kristalina Georgieva.
He was expected to leave Munich for Ethiopia to attend an African Union summit of Heads of State and Government. This proves that the Presidential jet is now fit for long haul flights. According to aviation and military sources, the Presidential Jet after refurbishing is now capable of embarking on trips to most countries in Europe, a local newspaper with close links to government reported on February 16.
The Daily Guide newspaper said the upgrade will allow the jet flight times of six hours, as it used to do before the unfortunate incident of September 30, 2018, where it had to land immediately in Washington DC, soon after taking off because it developed a fault.
The jet is usually for the local and international use of the President and key government officials, but throughout last year, it attracted a lot of chatter after North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, reported that it had been abandoned by the President for high-end ultra-luxury-chartered flights.
The government serially refused to disclose the cost of these supposed luxury flights citing National Security implications, which ended up digging into the pockets of the finances of the nation.
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