Okudzeto Ablakwa files question over President Akufo-Addo’s foreign trips
Ken Ofori-Atta defers question on Akufo-Addo’s trips to National Security Minister
Ablakwa hints of court action against government
A major criticism of President Akufo-Addo in the past year has been his supposed fixation with chartering ‘luxurious’ aircrafts for his trips abroad.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, has made it a habit to update Ghanaians on jets used by President Akufo-Addo for his foreign trips.
These trips, according to the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, come at a huge cost to the Ghanaian taxpayer.
The issue has been raging for months but former President John Dramani Mahama has not commented on it.
But in a latest post on Facebook which was forced by swipe at him by his successor, John Mahama waded into the plane saga stating that if President Akufo-Addo spent some time in his ‘private jet’ to read the NDC’s manifesto for the 2020 election, he would have learnt of some policies he intended to implement had he won the elections.
“To answer his rhetorical question on policy, if only he took a moment, in the comfort of his chartered jet, to read the People’s manifesto, he would have at least learnt about the ‘Big Push’ (an accelerated infrastructure plan for Ghana).”
On the issue of the cost of the president’s foreign travels, Okudzeto Ablakwa has indicated his unhappiness with a response by the National Security Minister that it is a matter of ‘national secrecy’.
Ablakwa vowed that he was going to exhaust the appropriate channels to ensure accountability is served relative to how much Ghana spends on President Akufo-Addo’s trips.
“This shall not be the end of the road in our quest for full accountability as is our constitutional right, and particularly as President Akufo-Addo obstinately continues to charter ultra-luxury jets at US$14,000.00 an hour when Ghana has a Presidential Jet in pristine condition.
“Who would have imagined that the man who promised to protect the public purse now seeks refuge in national security as the public purse remains under unmitigated assault. How tragic!”
Albert Kan-Dapaah, on Thursday, December 16, 2021 responded to a question by Okudzeto Ablakwa about the cost of President Akufo-Addo’s trips to France, Belgium and South Africa.
He stated that “Mr Speaker, recent official travels to France, Belgium, and South Africa by President Akufo-Addo are paid for out of the operational funds from the Ministry of National Security. Mr Speaker payments out of the ministry’s operational funds are glued with rules of confidentiality and state secrecy and it is not the normal practice…to make the suggested disclosures.”