Ablakwa Stands By Chartered Luxury Jet Claim; Insists Akufo-Addo Spent GH¢4.1M For Belgium And Rwanda Trips

• Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said he did not present inaccurate information when he said the president cost the taxpayer GH¢4.1 million during his recent flights Belgium and Rwanda
• Responding to the Presidency's reaction to his earlier claim, the MP insists his evidence proves the president chartered the expensive D-Alex private jet that cost the state GH¢167k an hour
• Meanwhile, the Presidency admits that Nana Akufo-Addo chartered a private jet from Brussels to Rwanda but would not state which jet or how much it cost the state

Opposition MP, Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said he stands by his claim that the president chartered a private luxury jet to Belgium and Rwanda that cost the taxpayer GH¢4.1 million.

The MP said on Friday morning that a three-day trip to Brussels, Belgium and Kigali, Rwanda cost the taxpayer considerable money because President Nana Akufo-Addo was profligate.

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The strong critic of the president’s private jet travels said instead of using Ghana’s state jet or a commercial flight for the journey Akufo-Addo rented a top-of-the-range luxury jet. He said the president rented a “luxury monster” airliner, D-Alex, that cost the state 167,000 an hour.

But the Presidency responded that Mr Ablakwa’s claims were inaccurate because the president flew commercial – Air France – from Accra to Brussels. Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin, said the president flew a private jet briefly from Brussels to Kigali. Mr Arhin, however, did not name the private jet the president flew.

Responding to the statement issued Friday evening by the Presidency, Mr Ablakwa said he never said the president flew the expensive jet from Accra.

“It is important to highlight that nowhere in my Facebook post did I suggest that President Akufo-Addo left Accra with the extravagant chartered jet,” Mr Ablakwa fought back on Facebook.

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Akufo-Addo still renting GH¢167,000 an hour private jet – Ablakwa claims with new photos

He said Presidency’s statement could not have denied that a €20,000 (GH¢167,000) an hour was rented because his evidence is airtight.

According to him the luxury jet is an ACJ319, registered D-Alex and operated by German-based K5-Aviation.

“D-Alex flew one hour and 19 minutes from Germany to Belgium, eight hours and 40 minutes from Brussels to Kigali, did a layover for some 5 hours before flying back to Germany at an eight-hour and 15 minutes flight duration. This is how we arrived at our rather generous 21-hour cost analysis.

“It should be noted that in addition to the hourly rates, other industry charges such as landing charges, ramp fees, reposition fees etc. always apply,” he posted on Facebook.

Ablakwa shares photos of Akufo-Addo’s alleged new expensive private jet that cost GH¢167,000 an hour

YEN.com.gh reported in a related story that Mr Okudzeto Ablakwa has published photos he said are the president’s new choice of a GH¢167,000 an hour private jet for international travels.

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In a Facebook post, the opposition MP for North Tongu said that President Nana Akufo-Addo was only pretending to be a changed man when he flew commercial on his last two US and UK trips.

“He [Akufo-Addo] has returned to his grossly insensitive and reckless ways of profligate travelling in ultra-luxurious charters.

“Probably thinking he will escape our unimpeachable surveillance if he switched companies, President Akufo-Addo on this occasion decided to abandon his favourite LX-DIO operated by Global Jet Luxembourg and opted for German-based private jet operator — K5-Aviation,” he posted on Facebook, Friday, June 24, 2022.

Source: YEN.com.gh