The presidential jet will undergo extensive repairs within the next four months, according to the Defense Minister.

Because the presidential plane is due for substantial repairs, President Akufo-Addo may be forced to use commercial flights for all of his international excursions for the next four months.

According to Dominic Nitiwul, the Defence Minister, it will be taken to France, where it will remain until at least October 2022.

"By the end of this month, we won't have a presidential plane because the one we have is heading to France for re-service," he remarked in an interview with JoyNews' Evans Mensah.

The President has been chastised by the Minority in Parliament for utilizing "luxurious private jets" for his travels although the official presidential jet is still in good working order since last year.

However, according to the Minister, the President has been using the presidential plane for all domestic and West African travel.

"We simply urged the President not to use it for extremely lengthy flights," the Bimbilla legislator added, "but all movements within Africa, all small movements within West Africa, that's the jet the President uses."

Background

The President's use of a chartered expensive private plane for his foreign trips has been condemned by the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

He said on February 12 this year that the President spent over GH4 million on his 10-day vacation to Europe and Guyana.

He has accused the administration of squandering taxpayer funds and urged Ghanaians to hold the government accountable.

In May 2021, the MP sparked outrage when he claimed that the country was paying £15,000 per hour because the President chose an expensive plane over the presidential jet on his trips to France, Belgium, and South Africa.

He then filed a query, and Parliament called Dominic Nitiwul, Ghana's Defence Minister, to address questions about the expense and why the country's presidential jet was not deployed.

The Minister justified the President's decision to rent the plane by claiming that the presidential plane's capacity was no longer sufficient to transport the President's entourage.

He told the House that the Finance Minister would be the ideal person to provide additional information about the trip's costs.