President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has not used a hired private plane in the last three months, according to Dominic Nitiwul, Minister of Defence, as part of the government’s efforts to reduce spending.
“The President has not taken a flight in his leased private plane over the past three months. He flies an industrial jet. I am certain of that. We all understand the predicament we’re in, and everyone needs to lower his expectations, he said in an interview with Citi News’ Umaru Amadu Sanda on Thursday, July 7, 2022.
The recent use of a chartered jet by the president from Belgium to Kigali, he claimed, was a rare circumstance.
He explained that it was due to the strike in the Belgian aviation sector and subsequent flight cancellations at the time.
Sometimes when the President is going for a particular program, the difficulty arises when he is supposed to arrive at a particular time and is delayed by using public transport.”
“However, the President has not used a private jet in the last three months. The only exception was when he was in Brussels, he used Air France, but he was having difficulties getting an aircraft to continue his journey,” he noted.
- African COVID-19 vaccinations would be distributed by Ghanaian pharmaceutical businesses, according to Nana Addo
- Nana Addo to speak on 30th anniversary of 1992 constitution approval
Mr. Nitiwul indicated that the government has resorted to other austere measures, including slashing the salaries of Ministers to shore up enough revenue.
“The Ministers will not live the same way they do. Ministers’ salaries have been slashed by 30 percent…The government is slashing expenditure.”
President Nana Akufo-Addo’s travels in private jets have been a bone of contention between the government and some members of the Minority.
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has been at the forefront of a crusade to prevent President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo from using chartered flights for foreign trips.
According to him, the President has so far spent GH¢34 million of taxpayers’ funds on chartered flights between May 2021 and now.
Through a series of questions on the floor of Parliament, Okudzeto Ablakwa has been demanding accountability and questioning why the Presidential Jet has seemingly been jettisoned.
