Presidential jet goes for $8.5m

The Ghanaian Democrat says secret negotiations for the sale of the presidential jet, Gulf Stream III, by the NPP government, as it had reported in its August 2 – 5, 2001 headlined: ‘New 80-seater Jet for Kufuor’ is now a ‘done deal' with the aircraft to go for $8.5 million.

Documents in circulation, according to the paper, point to an agreement reached for the disposal of the Aircraft between HSBC Bank, the Ministry of Finance and Gallen Limited and copied to Nana Akufo Addo, the Attorney General.

The understanding reached followed the lessee’s intention thus: “The lessee states that it has no further use for the aircraft and wishes the Lease to be terminated. The Lessee further requests that the owner appoint HSBC Investment Bank as its sales agent to effect the sale of the aircraft as contemplated in this agreement.”

The NDC mouthpiece carries that as part of the deal, the Government of Ghana is to deliver the Aircraft to Gulfstream’s facility in Savannah, Georgia and pilots from the United States have been chosen to fly it for the purposes of demonstration flights for potential buyers.

Under the sale agency agreement, if the jet is sold, the proceeds from the sale are to be lodged in the owner’s (Gallen Limited) account with the HSBC Investment Bank.

The owner, consequently, directed the Bank to apply proceeds so paid in or towards payment to the persons who shall have incurred the relevant expenses, of all amounts constituting proper deductions for the purposes of calculating net sales proceeds.

It further instructs that net sales proceeds be disbursed through a fourfold arrangement namely, towards payment of a management fee of $75,000 to HSBC Investment Bank for the sale of the Aircraft and; in or towards discharge of the secured obligations. Also, in or towards settlement of any amounts owing by the lessee under the lessee documents and; fourthly, any surplus shall be paid to the deposit account of the lessee held with the bank.

The paper recalls that the former government of the NDC leased the G-3 aircraft with the option of future purchase if need be.

The bank and the owner entered into a loan agreement on April 22, 1999 for the financing of a Gulfstream Model GIII aircraft with manufacturer’s serial number 493.

This lease agreement however, caused a lot of controversy in Ghana’s Parliament as the then minority group, the NPP, opposed the deal and even imputed shady deals to the acquisition of the aircraft.

The NPP, now in government are secretly negotiating the disposal of the G-3, seeing nothing wrong with holding back vital information to the public, alleges the Democrat.