A Chief of Staff in the Kufuor administration, KwadwoMpianim, is not entirely against the Akufo-Addo administration’s decision to purchase a new presidential jet as long as the payment terms are prudent.
“It will depend on the terms. For example, if you are going to take about GHS 20 billion from your coffers to buy a jet now, I would say don’t do it,” he explained on Eyewitness News.
“But if you have been able to pay this over a period of time, “maybe it is worth looking at it,” he added.
Recalling the Kufuor administration’s attempts to buy a presidential jet in 2007, Mr. Mpianim said similar considerations were made.
“As a country, you have to look at it and ask if we need it or not. At that time we thought we needed it, from our own experience.”
On the payment, plan Mr. Mpianim said “we had a credit term to pay this over some time which was not going to inconvenience the budget.”
The government has been taken on by the North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, who has consistently accused the president of wasting taxpayer’s money on hiring luxurious private jets for his travels.
But the government says the current presidential jet is not convenient for long-hour trips, as it couldn’t take more numbers and had limited facilities for the comfort of a president.
It has also said processes to procure the new jet are underway.
The Minority in Parliament has said it will not support the purchase of a bigger presidential jet for the country.
