The Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitiwul has disclosed that H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not have the chance to sit in Ghana’s new Presidential Jet if the government makes funds available for the purchase of one.
The Minister was in Parliament on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, to answer questions on the foreign travels of the President as well as plans to buy a new presidential jet for the country.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament, Dominic Nitiwulrevealed that having engaged aircraft manufacturing companies Boeing and Airbus, it has been confirmed that it will take three years for Ghana to get a new jet if the funds are made available now.
“We need a wide body aircraft to do government business. When I contacted both Boeing and Airbus they told me that it will take about three years for them to deliver a new aircraft for Ghana,” the Defence Minister said.
This he adds means that President Akufo-Addo will not sit in the new jet, at least not as a sitting president, assuming the purchase is to be made.
“What it simply means is that if I were to make a decision today and Ghana government is to have money for the Ministry of Defense to purchase an aircraft, the time for an aircraft to arrive will be the first quarter of 2025.
“This current president [H.E Nana Akufo-Addo] will not sit in that aircraft as president. He may sit as an ex-president but never sit as president. So that is where we are today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker,” Mr. Dominic Nitiwul told Parliament.
Although he was not clear on when Ghana could begin the process to buy a new jet, the Defence Minister in Parliament today reiterated that consultations are indeed ongoing for the purchase of one that can be used by the government.
In the past year, the issue of the need for Ghana to have a new presidential jet has come to the fore following concerns raised by the Minority, especially, North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa on the financial burden caused by the charter of private jets for the foreign travels of President Akufo-Addo.
