Director of Legal Affairs for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Abraham Amaliba, says President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has an unparalleled taste for luxurious things; a reason Government has started processes to purchasing a new presidential jet instead of using the current one, the Falcon X.
It could be recalled that the Director of Communication at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin on Monday, September 27, during a media briefing disclosed that plans were underway for Government to purchase a new Presidential jet; giving reasons that the current jet was not spacious enough and required unnecessary servicing when embarking on long travels.
But reacting to the issue on The Key Points show on TV3, monitored by A1Radioonline.com, Mr. Amaliba posited that it was not rational for the President to think of purchasing a new presidential jet owing to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the devastating effects it has brought on economies across the world, including Ghana.
According to him, there was the need for Government to place priority on the welfare of the citizens rather than purchasing a new presidential jet; considering the repercussions the pandemic has brought on the people.
Mr. Amaliba further argued that the current aircraft was safe for all manner of trips.
“Why should we be siting instances where the aircraft develop a fault and based on that we want to buy a new jet? It is not about whether the aircraft is good or is not good; we all know that it is good, it can do all the long distance travels as he has indicated. But I just think that we have a President who has a different taste altogether; that is the bottom line of all of this argument. We have a President whose taste for luxurious things are outside this world. I do not think that in the face of this pandemic where the ordinary Ghanaians are grappling with how the financial situation has impacted them, a Government that is supposed to deal with the welfare needs of the people will be thinking of what he is doing.”
Mr. Amaliba also recalled that the Late Former President John Evans Atta Mills as well as Former President John Dramani Mahama during their tenure of office never found anything wrong with the current presidential jet; thereby describing the decision by President Akufo-Addo to purchase a new jet as a waste of money.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Elijah Beyeni Yenibey|Ghana
