It has emerged that the current President of Ghana who is championing the purchase of a new Presidential Jet Nana Ado Dankwa Akufo-Addo was opposed to the same in 2000 when the late President Jerry John Rawlings wanted to purchase a Presidential jet for the country.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a Parliamentary Hanzard which has since gone viral on social media is said to have nicknamed Jerry John Rawlings ‘His Majesty’ because he thought Rawlings had become too powerful and did not care about the plight of the average Ghanaian but his comfort.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is on record to have said “Mr Speaker, by the grace of His Excellency, the all-powerful President. Soon we shall be calling him His Majesty in this House, Mr Speaker — at his grace. Mr Speaker, we are saying that this transaction is a most unsatisfactory one.”.
The President then Member of Parliament for Abuakwa in the Eastern Region drew the attention of Parliament to challenges in the various sectors of the economy including health, infrastructure and why there was the need to invest monies in those sectors rather than focus on a Presidential Jet which was not a priority to the country by then.
“Already, my hon. colleague, the Member for Offinso North (Dr K.K. Apraku), has, in his usual powerful presentation, alerted us to the sensitivity of this transaction; that at a time when there is a crying need for greater public investment in our social services, in our health system; at a time when the students are crying for an increase of public expenditure on tertiary education, they are met with a cry that there is no money but the President is entitled to have spent for himself $19million over the next five years on this aircraft.”
It has emerged that the current President of Ghana who is championing the purchase of a new Presidential Jet Nana Ado Dankwa Akufo-Addo was opposed to the same in 2000 when the late President Jerry John Rawlings wanted to purchase a Presidential jet for the country.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a Parliamentary Hanzard which has since gone viral on social media is said to have nicknamed Jerry John Rawlings ‘His Majesty’ because he thought Rawlings had become too powerful and did not care about the plight of the average Ghanaian but his comfort.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is on record to have said “Mr. Speaker, by the grace of His Excellency, the all-powerful President. Soon we shall be calling him His Majesty in this House, Mr. Speaker — at his grace. Mr. Speaker, we are saying that this transaction is a most unsatisfactory one.”.
The President then Member of Parliament for Abuakwa in the Eastern Region drew the attention of Parliament to challenges in the various sectors of the economy including health, infrastructure and why there was the need to invest monies in those sectors rather than focus on a Presidential Jet which was not a priority to the country by then.
But in 2021 after the ravages of COVID-19 that has burdened the country’s economy, reports are that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has started the process to purchase a Presidential jet; a move which the Minority in Parliament has kicked against vehemently.
A leading Member of Parliament who has taken the President on for prioritizing his comfort over that of the people of Ghana has been Okuzeto Ablakwa who has insisted that the current Presidential Jet is in good shape and can be used by the President.
He backs his argument with the fact that other Presidents in Africa use Ghana’s Presidential Jet so there is no justification on the part of the Ghanaian President to secure a new Jet for a struggling country.
