Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Minister for Defence has dismissed as unfounded claims by some people in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the proposal by Government to refurbish the Air Force aircraft fleet is an opportunity to fleece the country of its hard-earned revenue.
According to him, the proposal to buy six planes was made by the Ghana Air Force Command based on the fact that the existing fleet made up of seven planes would by 2010 be grounded because they would by then not be airworthy, having attained 30 years in service.
He said there was the need to commence the preparation for the acquisition of the planes now before 2010.
He indicated that the supposed presidential jet, in this case Airbus Jet 319ER, is always part of the Air Force aircraft fleet as obtains in every country including the United States of America.
According to him, since planes are not bought off the shelf, “it is important that we placed the orders in time so that by the time the existing ones are grounded, we would have at least one or two of the new ones ready to be of service”.
“And this is just what we are doing”, Hon. Kan-Dapaah told The Crusading GUIDE yesterday in an interview in view of the debate the proposal for the acquisition has generated.
He emphasized that the purchase of the planes would be done in a very transparent manner that would leave no room for anybody to suspect any foul deal.
“Remember we are buying directly from the manufacturers after we have finished with the negotiation, signed an agreement and paid for the aircraft”, said the Minister, stressing that all the details of the transactions would automatically be posted on the internet for all to see.
He said it was not possible for the Kufuor Government to get any commission on the purchase of the aircraft because their prices can be easily accessed on the internet.
“There is every transparency about purchase of the new aircraft – if you go on the internet today, you can find out how much it costs to buy a new airbus”, the Minister explained, adding that it was not the same as buying a secondhand plane like what happened in the case of the Gulfstream Jet that was purchased by the NDC.
He said that the argument that the Government should have used the Gulfstream Jet instead of going in for a new one was untenable in view of the limitations it had.
According to him, the Gulfstream was 13 years old and its range of flight could not go beyond Africa without refueling, but the Falcon 900 could fly straight to the Americas and Europe without stopping.
He also noted that the purchase of the Gulfstream Jet was not transparent in that, it passed through so many hands before being taken over by the Ghanaian authorities finally.
Mr. Dapaah also observed that it (Gulfstream Jet) was not the aircraft the Ghana Air Force requested for and that it was bought against its recommendation.
The Minister also dismissed suggestions that the acquisition of the aircraft was not the nation’s priority now, in the face of the acute water shortage that has hit the country, and other pressing developmental needs.
According to him, plans and procedures to solve those pressing needs were on course and that the proposal to acquire the aircraft, which is mainly a programme of equipping the military, would not in anyway be at the expense of addressing the provision of water, as a necessity for example, for Ghanaians.
Dr. Osei Akoto, Deputy Finance Minister conceded having signed a purchase agreement for the aircraft, but explained that the validity of the agreement was based on the Parliamentary approval of the proposal to purchase the aircraft.
He dismissed claims that signing the agreement meant the aircraft had already been acquired, and the Parliamentary approval was just a hoax.
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