Deputy Chief of Staff, Stan Xoeso Dogbe and MP for Old Tafo, Ekow Vincent Assfuah
A Deputy Chief of Staff at the Office of the President, Stan Xoese Dogbe, and the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo Constituency, Ekow Vincent Assafuah, are engaged in a heated exchange of words on social media over President John Dramani Mahama’s foreign trip.
The controversy between the Deputy Chief of Staff and the MP stemmed from a post by Vincent Assafuah alluding to a supposed private jet that had departed Ghana at 7 AM on Sunday, August 17, 2025.
The post alluded to a flight itinerary of Japan, Singapore, Germany, and back to Ghana at an estimated cost of $690,000.
“This private jet, M-BAEP, left Accra this morning around 7 am. It is estimated to cost $15,000 per hour to rent this flight. A simple calculation shows that the 7-hour journey already covered amounts to a tune of $105,000. If the flight proceeds to Japan, which is likely to take about 12 hours, that would be another $180,000.
“If it then continues to Singapore, approximately 7 hours away, that would add another $105,000. Finally, if the jet flies directly to Germany and then back to Accra a total of about 20 hours return trip that would add another $300,000. Altogether, the cost comes to an incredible $690,000 without including waiting times and/or stopovers. Damnnnnnn!” the MP wrote.
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Coming at a time when the Spokesperson to the President, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, had announced a similar flight itinerary for President John Dramani Mahama, the Deputy Chief of Staff, in a response to the Tafo MP, sought to accuse the MP of being mischievous; while seeking to criticise the president’s trip.
He clarified that while the MP had suggested that the president departed the country on a private jet at 7 AM on Sunday, President Mahama was still in the country as of midday and only left Ghana after some engagements.
“This one here will also demand to be called ‘Honourable’! Even if you are not street smart. It doesn’t take that much brain work to avoid embarrassing yourself, or? The president was live on many TV networks between 10.30 AM and 12.45 PM, attending the thanksgiving mass of the late Dr Edward Omane Boamah at the Christ the King Parish. Did he take off in the supposed jet at 7.00 AM and fly back for the 10.30 AM mass? I guess we have to ask his classmates how smart this guy was in his lower school days because… Eish! This is not how to be relevant oooh! Vincent Ekow Assafuah, invest in reading and how to be politically relevant and stop disgracing MPs,” Stan Dogbey wrote.
In an earlier post, he had disclosed that the president, contrary to some speculations, departed Ghana on board a commercial flight.
“President John Dramani Mahama is on his way to Japan on board a commercial airline from Accra’s Kotoka International Airport. There are right-thinking Ghanaians on board with him.
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“If the president’s trip requires a privately chartered aircraft and not his brother’s Dzata, which has saved the state huge sums of money, be sure that we will go for that, but not at an exorbitant cost to the state,” portions of the post read.
But in a rebuttal to the Deputy Chief of Staff’s claim, Ekow Assafuah pointed out that his earlier post did not mention specific individuals or names, including the president.
“Nonsense…. Your smart self couldn’t tell you that the post did not mention your name, neither did it mention anyone’s name! If not John Mahama, how can someone like you become a Deputy Chief of Staff….” the Tafo MP wrote.
In a subsequent post, the Tafo MP further called Dogbey’s character into question while referencing a June 30, 2025, post on Facebook by the Deputy Chief of Staff in which he had used invective to describe an attempted hack of his page.
“Such an uncultured character is our Deputy Chief of Staff. I miss the days of Abu Jinapor and Co,” Ekow Assafuah stated.
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The subject of the need for a new jet for the use of Ghana’s presidency has reignited in the past few days following reports that the current presidential jet, a Falcon 900EX, has been grounded due to concerns over its airworthiness.
The opposition New Patriotic Party, citing its efforts to acquire a new presidential jet under the erstwhile Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government and the resistance it faced from the then-opposition National Democratic Congress, has led to accusations of hypocrisy being levelled against the now-ruling party.
Meanwhile, there is currently a growing call for the depoliticisation of the conversation on the need for a new presidential jet.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, speaking during a recent courtesy call on him at the Manhyia Palace by the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene, stressed the need for the prioritisation of safety and operational efficiency over politics.
GA/VPO
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