Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Twum Barimah
• The Dormaa MP has filed an urgent question seeking answers from the Finance Minister
• Mr Paul Twum Barimah is asking for the cost of chartered flights used by former President Mahama between 2013 and 2016
• The MP says answers to his question will help Ghanaians to decide whether the need for a new Presidential Jet is justified
Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Twum Barimah is demanding the cost of chartered flights used by former President John Dramani Mahama between 2013 and 2016 from the Finance Ministry.
According to the MP, the answers to his question by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta will settle the ongoing brouhaha over the need for Ghana to purchase a new Presidential Jet.
In the MPs estimation, the ministry’s response will help in making a comparative analysis which will allow Ghanaians to understand whether a new aircraft for the president is necessary or it will be prudent to use state resources to charter aircraft for the foreign travels of the President.
“It is, therefore, important that as a country we look at collectively how we can come together to resolve all these issues.
“I have filed the question to also understand how much it cost this country between 2013 to 2017 when our president [former President Mahama] was on series of travels using chartered flights,” the MP stated in a Joy News interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
Coming at a time when a Ranking Member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has filed a similar question demanding the cost of President Akufo-Addo’s recent foreign travel with a chartered flight, Mr Paul Apraku argues that his urgent question is not an equalization attempt.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa following President Akufo-Addo’s recent travel to France, Belgium and South Africa, filed an urgent question in Parliament demanding the cost of the President’s chartered flight for the trip.
According to the NDC MP, the president’s decision to hire an expensive private jet despite the availability of the government’s official presidential jet was a waste of taxpayers money meant to satisfy the president’s taste for luxury.
Mr Ablakwa in a Facebook post alleged that the G-Kelt private jet chartered for the president’s travel came at a cost of £345,000 (GHS2,828,432.80).