NPP's Presidential Jet propaganda

...Questions For President Kufuor, J. H. Mensah, Osafo-Maafo And Others

Our lead story on the Presidential Jet Gulf stream Aircraft has definitely opened a can of worms and is likely to reveal a sordid mess of governmental incompetence and naivet?, Government indecision and foot-dragging, possible bureaucratic delays, and willful causing of financial loss to the State. It raises many, many questions for President Kufuor and his team of financial and economic managers to answer.

The accompanying Aircraft Lease Structure which we also published is a damning indictment of the NPP Government as it shows that all along, and contrary to the propaganda of the NPP, the aircraft was purchased in good faith, the purchase agreements were above board, and, as stated in the "Lease Structure" document, is "consistent with the majority of aircraft financings undertaken under the export programmes established by US and a number of European governments".

It would have been noticed that the HSBC letter of July 26, 2001, written to Hon. J. H. Mensah as Leader of Government Business and Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, was copied to Nana Akufo-Addo personally as Attorney-General, quoting even his fax number.

Thus both the financial and legal gurus of the NPP Government have long been made aware of the true state of affairs regarding the Presidential Jet, at least since July 26, 2001, the date of the HSBC letter. It is important for the NPP Government to stop the propaganda and respond specifically to the following critical points raised by the HSBC letter addressed to Hon. J. H. Mensah:

(I) That the NPP Government had decided all along not to use the aircraft but to sell it, and HSBC had recommended that in that case, the aircraft be returned to the Gulf stream facility in Savannah, Georgia, USA, at the earliest possible juncture;

(ii) That lease installments payable by October 30, 2001 was US$2,133,548.24;

(iii) That the Government of Ghana was liable for this amount because throughout the period when the amount became due (up to and including October 30, 2001), the Government of Ghana had had uninterrupted access to and use of the aircraft. In other words, even though President Kufuor had refused to use the aircraft, for as long as it continued to be in Ghana and under the control of the Government of Ghana, the Government had the legal obligation to make the lease payments;

(iv) That the Government of Ghana could either make the payments directly, or that the payments would be deducted from the US$15,993,641.93 deposit (including accumulated interest) transferred from the Ghana Peace-keeping Mission Account in New York to the then Midland Bank (now HSBC) account of the Government of Ghana opened for the purpose of financing the purchase of the Presidential Jet;

(v) That since the NPP Government claimed it was unable to locate the loan document covering the purchase, HSBC had arranged for a copy of the Loan Agreement and the Duplicate Minute Book of Gallen Limited, the single purpose Company legitimately set up for purposes of the transaction to be sent to Hon. J. H. Mensah;

(vi) That in order to trigger off the sale of the Presidential Jet in accordance with the wishes of the NPP Government, the NPP Government should take the following actions:

(a) Execute (i.e. sign) the Aircraft Lease Agency Agreement which was enclosed with the letter; and

(b) Deliver (i.e. return) the aircraft to the Gulf stream facility in Savannah, Georgia, USA. Ghanaians have not been told what the NPP Government's response was to these proposals, but we believe there has been no response because as at January, 2002, in answer to a question asked at the NPP's so-called Peoples' Assembly at the National Theatre in Accra, Finance Minister Osafo-Maafo stated that the owners of the aircraft were still unknown, and that as far as he (Osafo-Maafo) was aware, he had not, as Finance Minister, signed any cheque for the payment of any monies towards the purchase of the aircraft. But as "Ghana Palaver" reported earlier in the year, and as confirmed in the HSBC letter under reference, payment was to be made in either of two ways;

(a) Direct payment, which would involve the Minister of Finance "signing a cheque" (this phrase, quoted from the Minister, is itself in quotes because technically, the Minister of Finance does not sign cheques; he authorizes the payment of monies to the Controller and Accountant-General who then instructs the Bank of Ghana to issue cheques to effect payments); or

(b) Deduction from the Ghana Peace-keeping Mission security deposit lodged with the HSBC, which would be automatic and would not require the "signing" of any cheque. It is important that this critical matter of the Presidential Gulf stream Jet be re-opened, especially by Parliament, and the following specific issues raised with the NPP Government:

(I) All the time that the NPP Government was claiming that it did not know who the owners of the aircraft were, it was telling a lie;

(ii) The NPP Government has all along, or at least since July 26, 2001, had access to the Loan Agreement and the Duplicate Minute Book of Gallen Ltd., the single-purpose Company created to facilitate the transaction;

(iii) At least US$2,113,548.24 was due as lease payments by October 30, 2001, whether this has been paid or not and if it has been paid, whether it was paid directly or out of the Peace-keeping security deposit with the HSBC;

(iv) According to the Agreement, yet another lease installment would have become due and owing on April 30, 2002. We need to be told how much this was, whether it has been paid, and if so how it was paid, i.e. whether directly or out of the Ghana Peace-keeping security deposit account with the HSBC;

(v) Yet another lease installment will become due on October 30, 2002. How does the NPP Government intend to deal with this;

(vi) Does it not already amount to "willfully causing financial loss to the State" in excess of US$2,113,548.24 for the NPP Government to have allowed this amount to be paid, if indeed it has been paid, whilst the aircraft remains unused in Ghana;

(vii) What has been the NPP Government's reaction to HSBC's proposals for the execution of the Aircraft Sales Agency Agreement and the return of the aircraft to the Gulf stream's facility in Savannah, Georgia, USA in pursuance of the NPP Government's decision not to use the aircraft but to sell it;

(viii) What is the justification for the Kufuor administration's continued retention in Ghana of an aircraft which they have decided not to use, which they have decided to sell, in respect of which they have received sale proposals, and which they have refused to use;

(ix) Does it not amount to seriously and willfully causing financial loss to the State for President Kufuor to continue to travel extensively on commercial aircraft with his huge entourages and at enormous cost whilst the Presidential Jet continues to stand on the tarmac at the Air Force Station as a "white elephant", with all its attendant costs;

(x) Does the Kufuor administration realize that if they had accepted HSBC's proposals at the time they were made, a surplus balance of US$1,089,163.49 over the original deposit amount of US$14,500,000 would have accrued to the country and that this loss also amounts to "willfully causing financial loss to the State".

It appears that the NPP Government, at the time it raised the hullabaloo about the Presidential Jet, did not really understand the nature of the transaction and the structure of its financing. This structure was also published in our issue of last Tuesday. Next Tuesday, "The Ghana Palaver" shall explain in detail what that structure means, and all Ghanaians will realize that that entire hullabaloo was really "much ado about nothing".