Stop wasting resources, use first class flights for foreign trips – Aviation expert to Akufo-Addo

Aviation expert, Dr. Issaka Yakubu Akparibo has said government can go for first-class on a commercial flight for its foreign trips in order to reduce cost rather than spending huge sums of money to purchase an Airbus or Falcon.

“The maintenance of a new aircraft is a different issue altogether, so for now I will advocate that the government uses commercial flight for its Presidential travels,” he suggested in an interview on Kasapa 102.5 Fm.

Speaking on Kasapa 102.5 FM, the Aviation Expert said the President going in for a jet and allowing it to wait for a number of hours is a waste of the country’s resources.

“Last year thereabout when the President was travelling to Brazil, they used a commercial flight because the Presidential Jet developed a fault on their way. So, the President should have done that rather than going in for a private jet thereby wasting the nation’s money,” he said.

The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has alleged that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo spent a whopping Ghc2.8m on a private jet on his recent trips to France and Johannesburg.

In a piece on his Facebook page, the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament alleged that the president rented an aircraft that cost the Ghanaians taxpayer £15,000 an hour.

He further added that President left Accra for Paris on the 16th of May and then from Paris to Johannesburg and back to Accra on the 25th of May accumulating a total of 23 hours amounting to a colossal £345,000. At the current exchange, the amount totals GHS2,828,432.80.

However, the Aviation Expert said if the nation wants to purchase a new jet then the government must first check its finances.

“We spent over $30 million dollars in buying the current Falcon being used as the Presidential Jet. You know in Ghana, we sometimes have procurement issues and such an amount could have bought Airbus 320 for the nation. So if we want government to buy a new jet, they would be spending over $60 million dollars,” he predicted.

Meanwhile, he says setting up an investigative committee to probe the Ghc2.8 million allegedly used by the state on a private jet for the President on his recent trips to France and Johannesburg would be a fruitless venture.

“If it really happened, there is no need wasting time in setting up a committee to investigate that. What investigations do you want to conduct again? If you do that you are just wasting time and Ghana is fond of that.”