Ken Ofori-Atta will give a breakdown of the president’s recent trips
• Ken Ofori-Atta is expected in Parliament today
• This is on the back of the Defence Minister’s appearance in Parliament to answer questions on the reason the president didn’t use the presidential jet for his recent trips
• The Finance Minister is expected to give a breakdown of the expenses made by the president on those trips
Today, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, will appear before Parliament to take his turn in answering questions regarding the cost of the recent three-nation trips undertaken by the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
The president recently travelled to France, Belgium and South Africa in an aircraft which the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said, cost the nation a total of GHS 2.8 million.
“The Airbus ACJ320neo owned by Acropolis Aviation based in Farnborough, UK and registered as G-KELT, is the most luxurious and the most expensive in the Acropolis fleet. The manufacturers describe it as “the most outstanding ambassador for Airbus Corporate Jets.” It costs the Ghanaian taxpayer approximately £15,000 an hour when President Akufo-Addo rents it,” the MP alleged in a post on Facebook.
Yesterday, the Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, was in Parliament to answer questions on an urgent question posed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
He said: “This aircraft will carry a load of 11 persons minus the crew. When this aircraft is travelling to the eastern part of the USA or Asia, it will not load a crew of more than eight plus the luggage. So it depends on where it is going. Secondly, I have also said the aircraft has to do refueling stops, and also in this COVID-19, when you are travelling to multiple destinations like the president’s recent travel, the Falcon couldn’t have been taken because he would have had to do technical stops which are not desirable, and when he is travelling with more than 20 people like he has been doing for business trips that brought huge sums of money for this country, he will need more than just a Falcon, otherwise, the others would have to go a day ahead before the president to prepare themselves.
“In fact, the president would also have to go a day ahead because no president can shower in this aircraft. He cannot move from this aircraft straight into a meeting,” the Defence minister justified in Parliament yesterday.
But later today, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, will give the House a breakdown of the expenses that were made by the president on those trips.
This, according to citinewsroom.com, is contained in Parliament’s provisional order paper for today, where the MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, will ask the Minister the cost of the official trips of the president.
“The Minister responsible for Finance will appear before Parliament to answer the second leg of my question. I do hope that the Finance Minister will be very transparent and probably we shall begin to see some conceding on the part of the government,” the MP said ahead of the minister’s appearance.