Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has announced that the presidential jet will undergo repair work.
According to the Minister, the jet would be flown to France, where it will be until October 2022.
Per the disclosure, President Akufo-Addo may be compelled to depend on the use of commercial flights for all his foreign travels for the next four months.
Speaking to Accra based Joy News, he said, “By the end of this month, we will not have a presidential jet because the one we have is going to France for re-service; it’s one of the reasons the President will not use it for four to five months.”
The Minority had raised issues about the cost of the President’s commercial travels, especially last year.
However, the Minister of National Security, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, in December 2021, told Parliament that presidential travels are national security issues which cannot be made public.
He told the House that the cost of the presidential air travel was covered by the operational funds of the National Security and was clothed with rules of confidentiality and state secrecy.
He was responding to questions filed by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Dormaa East, Mr Paul Apreku Twum-Barimah, and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Mr Twum-Barimah wanted to know the cost of air travel of former President John Mahama, using chartered flights between the period 2013 to 2016, while Mr Ablakwa demanded answers on the cost of recent official travels to France, Belgium and South Africa in May this year cost the Ghanaian taxpayer.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
