Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Member of Parliament for North Tongu
Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Andy Kwame Appiah-Kubi says allegations from North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, saying President Akufo-Addo hired another luxurious aircraft on his recent foreign trips to the UK and Germany are unsubstantiated.
According to the NDC legislator, the trips on the hired jet cost the state £14,000 per hour and a cumulative ¢3.46 million.
Reacting to this allegation, the Asante-Akim North MP described Okudzeto Ablakwa as speaking out of inexperience.
According to him, the legislator has no evidence to back his claims and urged the public to treat it as frivolous. “It is important one equips himself with information before coming out with such information in the media just to make noise. The noise is getting too much.”
To him, Okudzeto’s behaviour is expected from a person who entered politics right after completing school. “This is what happens when you leave the classroom and start out in parliament with no experience,” he told Happy98.9FM’s Don Kwabena Prah on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show.
He believes Okudzeto has been hailed for far too long for doing the wrong thing. “If you do the wrong thing continuously, that will never change you. Prepare yourself and enter parliament with some experience so you don’t make some trivial mistakes.”
To him, inexperienced Okudzeto is making noise without any concrete evidence and would have known better if “he didn’t come to parliament right from school. He should bring the invoice that proves the alleged ¢3.46 million cost of the president’s travels.”
Background
Earlier this year, Okudzeto Ablakwa stirred controversy when he alleged that President Akufo-Addo hired a private jet at the cost of ¢2.8 million on his travels to France, Belgium and South Africa at the expense of tax-burned Ghanaians.
He filed a question, and Parliament summoned Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, to answer questions on the cost and why Ghana’s own presidential jet was not used.
The Minister justified the president’s decision to rent the aircraft, arguing that the capacity of the presidential aircraft can no longer carry the president’s entourage.
He told the House that regarding the cost incurred on the trip, the Finance Minister is best to provide those details.
Not satisfied with this answer, Mr Ablakwa filed another question to summon the Finance Minister to speak to the cost.
Ken Ofori-Atta appeared before Parliament and noted that questions on the cost and travels of the president will be best answered by the National Security Ministry.
Although the nation is yet to be provided with answers regarding the cost, the former Deputy Education Minister is making another allegation. On Tuesday, the North Tongu lawmaker, in a post on his Facebook page, called for a national policy on presidential travels akin to what pertains in other jurisdictions.
“For his recent travels to the UK on the 27th of July, 2021, to attend the Global Education Summit and last week’s state visit to Germany, he blatantly refused to travel on the presidential jet.
“Instead, he opted for another top of the range VIP luxury charter jet specifically known to industry players as the Boeing 737-900ER BBJ3,” he alleged.