Presidential Trips: We Are Reaping Reward Of Bitter Seeds Sown- Jubilee House Tells Ghanaians

Hajara FuseiniJune 27, 2022

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The Jubilee House has indicated that the president’s choice for private jets instead of Ghana’s Presidential jet when travelling is the country’s reward for boycotting the purchase of Airbus A319 alongside the Falcon 900EX years back.

In a six-page statement signed by the Director of Communications at the seat of Ghana’s presidency, Eugene Arhin, it said that the discussions about the President’s trips would have been obviated had the country approved the purchase of both jets instead of one.

It recalled that “President Kufour placed orders for the current presidential jet, the Falcon 900EX aircraft, for short-haul travels, and a 120-seater Airbus A319 for long haul travel. Due to populist reasons, the processes for the acquisition of the larger Airbus A319 aircraft, which could have been used for both long-haul and short-haul travel, and which could have accommodated the president’s entire delegation, including security and media personnel were scrapped in favour of the smaller Falcon 900EX aircraft, which seats fourteen people for short-haul travel and between eight and ten for longer haul travel”.

Added Eugene Arhin, “We are reaping the reward of the bitter seeds sown”.

Despite the fact that other Presidents hire Ghana’s Presidential jet for their trips, the jubilee House said that Ghana’s presidential jet is inferior to that of less endowed African countries like Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal.

This is the second response from the Jubilee House to Okudzeto Ablakwa justifying President Akufo-Addo’s preference for private jets for his travels to the Presidential jet.

Member of North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa alleges that in the past 13 months, GHC34 million have been spent on the president’s trips in chartered jets.

Efforts to get the Finance minister and others to account to the House of Parliament about the president’s trips have proved futile.