'Kufuor Won't Fly Presidential Jet'

President J.A. Kufuor will continue to use Ghana Airways' aircrafts for his international travels says Ms. Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State at the Presidency in Charge of Media Relations.

Speaking on a private radio station in Accra, Ms. Ohene explained that this decision has been necessitated by the resolve of the President to sell the Gulf Stream presidential aircraft procured by the past government.

When asked why the President would still use the national airline whilst the state continues to pay $1.5 million every six months for the leased Gulf Stream aircraft, while the Fokker F28 presidential jet also sits idle at the Ghana Air Force base, the Minister reiterated that plans were underway to sell the leased aircraft and said that the Fokker F28 has not been sky worthy for some time.

Confirming a pending trip by President Kufuor to Mali as part of his travels lined up for the year, Ms. Elizabeth Ohene indicated that she did not know whether the President's trip to Togo earlier on in the year cost the nation $10,000 as alleged. She however expressed surprise at the perception that trips embarked on with the presidential jet would cost the nation nothing, and said, "any plane that flies is paid for whether Ghanair or Airforce.

On the assertion that travel by Ghana Airways disrupts its flight schedule, as was the case when the President travelled to Togo, Ms. Ohene said that was not the case as the trip to Togo took less than an hour.

Asked whether she knew when the Ministry of Energy will be making a statement on the price of fuel, the Media Relations Minister intimated that the Energy Minister would soon come out with an announcement on the fuel situation as that was not intended to be kept as a secret. Commenting further on the work of the Appointments Committee, she said, "I think the appointments committee does its job."