The Office of the President has described as inaccurate claims by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that President Akufo-Addo chartered a luxurious flight to Brussels and Kigali.
According to the Office, President Akufo-Addo’s current trip to Belgium and Rwanda was confronted with some challenges as the option to travel using direct commercial flight from Brussels to Kigali was not available.
Contained in a statement signed by Director of Communications, Eugene Arhin, on Friday, June 24, 2022, he indicated that prior to President Akufo-Addo’s departure from Accra on Sunday, June 19, 2022, Ghana’s Mission in Brussels had sent notice about an impending strike in the aviation sector in Belgium. This, he noted, was going to result in the cancellation of over three hundred flights, including those from Brussels to Kigali.
“In furtherance of this, Belgium’s largest airport, Brussels Airport, was compelled to cancel all outgoing flights on Monday, 20th June, the day President Akufo-Addo arrived in Brussels, because employees at the airport had joined in an aviation strike. With the Presidency having been given prior information regarding the strike action before the President’s trip to Brussels, the option to travel using direct commercial flight from Brussels to Kigali was not available.”
Office of the President
The Presidency explained that the decision, therefore, to charter a flight for the President and his entourage was to let him make it to Kigali in time to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday, June 23, 2022, for the commencement of work on the Pan-African Vaccine Manufacturing Project, involving Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and BioNTech SE, the German biotechnology company.
President’s Akufo-Addo’s spending of €480,000
The Office of the President further refuted claims by Mr Ablakwa that €480,000 was spent on President Akufo-Addo’s trips to Belgium and Rwanda. It emphasized that President Akufo-Addo did not travel to Belgium aboard a chartered Airbus ACJ319, as claimed by the North Tongu MP, who has in the past criticised the President’s spending on air travel.
“The President travelled to Belgium onboard an Air France Commercial Flight (AF0584), which departed Accra on Sunday at 7:20pm, made a stop-over in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and then continued to Paris.”
Office of the President
Upon arrival in Paris, the Presidency stated that President Akufo-Addo and his delegation travelled via train to Brussels to attend the European Development Days event, where, on Tuesday, 21st June 2022, he was a keynote speaker.
Commenting on the praise given by Mr Ablakwa to the First Lady over her choice of flying on the Presidential jet, the presidency highlighted that she arrived in Kigali using the jet because “the plan has always been that the President and some members of his delegation, together with the First Lady”, will use the jet to make the return flight from Kigali to Accra. It stated that for trips within Africa and for trips that do not last for more than 6 hours, the President continues to use the Presidential jet.
“One such trip to be undertaken by the President, where the Presidential jet is to be used, will be on Sunday, 26th June, where he will travel to Lisbon Portugal, to attend the 2022 UN Ocean Conference and return home on Wednesday, 29th June.”
Office of the President
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