Mahama must pay for chopper use - NPP

The Eastern regional branch of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and Ministry of Defence to compel President John Mahama to pay for using the army’s helicopters for campaigning purposes in some parts of the country ahead of the December 7 polls.

Within the campaign season, the president has been spotted on a few occasions traversing some parts of the country in an army helicopter, a situation which attracted harsh criticism from the main opposition NPP.

The party says the president use the choppers for political rather than state purposes and, thus, must pay for it.

According to the party, Mr Mahama, who is seeking another term in office, does not have the mandate to use state resources such as army helicopters to go on campaign tours.

“We want the Ministry of Defence and the military hierarchy, as a matter of urgency, to issue an invoice to President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the use of the state facilities,” David Prah, NPP’s Communication Officer for the Eastern region has stated.

According to Mr Prah, who addressed a press conference on Thursday, November 3, the flag bearer of the NDC cannot ride on the taxes of Ghanaians to run his campaign.

The party accused the President of abuse of incumbency and also said the NDC was pumping state funds into mounting billboards in the run-up to the December 7 polls.