Jet Brouhaha Spills Over

The heat generated in Parliament on Wednesday, following the debate on the loan agreement, covering five aircraft acquired by the Government of Ghana to augment the fleet of the Ghana Air Force, spilled over to the airwaves yesterday, as the government and the opposition went at each other's throats.

On Peace FM, a popular local language radio station in Accra, Deputy Minister of Information, Baba Jamal, speaking with tongue in cheek, said President John Evans Atta Mills had not requested new aircraft for his personal use, and that the five aircraft in question were government's efforts to equip the military to better protect the territorial integrity of this country.

He said, just as the government was trying to equip public institutions like the National Fire Service with fire tenders and the police with patrol vehicles, the Atta Mills administration had decided to equip the Ghana Air Force with aircraft, to make it combat ready.

At one point in time, the Deputy Minister suggested that because the aircraft in question could land anywhere, they could help to combat all manner of crimes, including pair trawling and armed robbery, in addition to safeguarding the oil installations in the Western Region.

In Parliament House a day earlier, the government had tabled an agreement under which the sovereign state of Ghana would benefit from a loan facility of US$105,370,177.09 from the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), for the purchase of one Embraer E190 jet, together with a hanger at a whooping cost of $17m. There are two BA 42 Guardian Surveillance jets, costing eleven million Euro and another two CT95 aircraft at a cost of 60 million euro.

The Minority had wondered in the House why members owing allegiance to the National Democratic Congress, who had vehemently opposed similar arrangements by the New Patriotic Party in 2008, had suddenly become apostles of the aircraft buying business.

The Minority also argued that the cost of the aircraft outlined in the loan agreement, was far in excess of the actual cost.

Moving the motion for approval in Parliament, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Mr. James Klutse, argued that the aircraft had been configurated to satisfy the requirements of the Ghana Armed Forces for its strategic operations.

To put the Minority case across more succinctly, Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu spoke to Peace FM after Baba Jamal had made his intervention.

He said he and his colleagues were not against the purchase of the aircraft, because they recognised the need to protect the people, especially, the country's oil. Their main concern was the protection of the national purse, which was in danger of losing more than the actual cost of the five airplanes.

The Minority Leader explained that when their members scanned the website of the manufacturers, aircraftcompare.com, they discovered that the Embraer 190, which is quoted on the official government loan document as costing $105,370,177.09, was pegged at $32 million as the basic price.

They were also aware that the cost of a hanger was between 4-5 million dollars, far lower than the $17 million contained in the government's official documents. The Casa295 has a base price of $22 million, while the two BA 42 Guardian Surveillance aircraft, costing 11 million Euro on government documentation, cost $35 million.

Mr. Mensah Bonsu said it was the opinion of the Minority that at the asking price by government, more aircraft could be bought for the military, and wanted to safeguard against a scenario where there would be no value for money in the purchase agreement.

The cacophony of noise that followed the debate in the House brought Dr. Kwesi Annin, security expert with the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Centre in Accra, to his feet. He said he was disappointed with the behaviour of members of the House.

'Parliamentarians are failing the nation with an 'F', for not doing much to protect the citizenry, who are also tax-payers,' he told a Tema-based private radio station.

He wished the Select Committee for both Defence and Finance had consulted his centre and made enquiries into the purchasing of military equipment.

On almost all radio and television stations in Accra, listeners and viewers called in and sent text messages, with most people unhappy with the high cost of the five aircraft.