Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, Shamima Muslim, says the government has not made any decision on whether to purchase a new presidential jet.
Speaking on Prime Insight on Joy Prime on Saturday, August 23, she said discussions on the matter are still ongoing.
“As government, we are taking all the comments that are coming around this particular issue, to buy or not to buy a private jet. This is not the time to make any statement on that issue,” she stated.
Ms. Muslim clarified that the aircraft commonly referred to as the “Presidential Jet” is actually a Ghana Armed Forces plane, currently undergoing maintenance in France, a matter the late Defence Minister had addressed on the floor of Parliament.
The delay in repairs, she said, has left the President occasionally relying on alternative arrangements.
“In times when that particular jet was not available, his brother’s jet was at hand to help him ensure he met his obligations,” she revealed.
She noted that debates over acquiring jets are not new, pointing to past administrations. Under late President John Atta Mills, for instance, she said the government chose a smaller aircraft after the previous administration had already ordered two.
“The position of the NDC continues to be safety and some level of comfort, other than luxury,” she said.
The Deputy Presidential Spokesperson also touched on earlier statements by one of the panellists, Kwadwo Poku, who argued that if the country spends over GH¢ 786 million to elect a president, then some level of luxury should be afforded.
Turning to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), she said they should not attempt to rewrite history to excuse past actions.
“All of a sudden, it would seem as if the NPP wants to justify all the things that went wrong. The NPP had two terms, with eight good years in the first term and into the second term. During that period, there was no politics surrounding the issue of luxurious private jets. That is a fact. There was never an issue. Why did that become an issue?”.
She linked the growing controversy to Ghana’s worsening economic conditions under the previous administration.
“By 2022, inflation had hit 54%. We had gone back to an IMF programme. At the time the President was asking all of us to tighten our belts, was that the time? And today, Kwodwo Poku has told us that all these travels we have been doing and signing MoUs have yielded no fruits for Ghana.
”Which means that even our complaints, that the President then, when he wasn’t using the state aircraft but opted to use a luxurious aircraft, and Kwodwo Poku has just told us this morning that even with those travels, nothing came by way of benefit to Ghana. That even makes our concern more poignant,” she said.
“We must not make it look like all of a sudden all the wrongs and ills that we all saw about the profligacy of the outgone government can be justified,” she warned.
She argued that, unlike previous administrations, President Mahama has been measured in his foreign trips.
“Since he came, he has turned down a lot of invitations to travel. He is travelling minimally in comparison, and he is travelling more prudently in comparison,” she noted.
Ms Muslim added that any future decision on presidential travel would be based on necessity and responsibility.
“If President Mahama needs to travel with a private jet, it will happen. The difference would be that the mindset in securing that private jet is not about luxury, but prudence,” she said.
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Source: myjoyonline.com
