EDITORIAL: New Presidential Jet?

For almost a week, the media landscape in Ghana has been inundated with reports about the intended acquisition of a new presidential jet. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority in Parliament, who first broke the news, claimed the acquisition of the new jet had been smuggled into a number of aircrafts, which were being demanded by the Ghana Air Force, at the total coast of $100 million.

Late last week, another news item came out that the new presidential jet was not part of the $100m budget, which had been submitted to Parliament, and that $37 million had been specifically set aside for the new jet.


As the NDC minority in Parliament seems to have set in motion a debate on the acquisition of new presidential jet, the Office of the President came out with a statement, last Saturday, debunking the NDC claim that the government was planning to acquire a new jet for the executive.


TheP secretary to the President, Mr. Andrew Awuni, in an interview with Ghana Television last Saturday, explained that as far back as 1997, the Air Force requested the government to equip it with new jets, because what they had in stock would be grounded in 2010.


Awuni said the government was only meeting the demands of the Air Force, and that the government had not ordered any presidential jet, as was being speculated. Despite this explanation, some former ministers of the Kufuor government have also been jumping from one radio station to the other, justifying the acquisition of a new jet for the executive.


This open justification seems to have put the public in the state of dilemma, as to whether they should listen to the government, or the NDC minority in Parliament, who are making a lot of noise about the issue.


It would be recalled that that the then opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) made a lot of noise about the acquisition of new presidential jet by the Rawlings government. The argument at the time was that Ghana was saddled with so many problems therefore it was misplaced priority for the government to purchase a new jet for the comfort of the president. With this opposition still fresh in the minds of Ghanaians, it would be very difficult for the NPP government to come out openly that it is also purchasing a presidential jet.

The Chronicle, however, submits that both the NDC and NPP should put politics aside, and dialogue as to whether Ghana, as a country, needs the presidential jet or not. After weighing both the advantages and disadvantages, they can then come to a compromise on the issue.


If it is true that the government intends to buy the jet, President Kufuor, like the presidential palace, would not enjoy it much before he leaves office. It would become the property of the state. Professor Mills will be using them, should he become president of this great nation.


As we pointed out earlier, the NPP set the precedent some years back, which the NDC is also trying to follow. We however think this must stop somewhere, in the overall interest of this country. Currently our football teams find it extremely difficult to travel to honour their continental matches.


We think if there is a presidential jet, they can easily be airlifted to play these matches. This is not however to say that we support the purchase of the jet.


That decision rests on the government and opposition parties.