Akufo-Addo resumes expensive foreign travels on rented jet after E-Levy passage

The President, has resumed his use of a rented luxury airplane for his foreign travels despite banning his Vice-President, Mahamudu Bawumia and appointees from travelling, and also allegedly cutting down their salaries among other austerity measures in the name of Ghana’s economic challenges.

Nana Akufo-Addo and his cousin, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta have spared not effort blaming Coronavirus and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict for the plummeting cedi against the dollar in particular, skyrocketing fuel prices, the daily rise of goods and services, and asked Ghanaians to tight their belts, but he is not living what he preached.

According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, hours after giving “presidential assent” to the E-Levy in the wake of its passage by the Members of Parliament (MP) on the ticket of the ruling the New Patriotic Party (NPP), President Akufo-Addo went “back to his old ways of Russian Oligarchic travels”.

The North Tongu MP, who has been tracking the President on his foreign trips revealed that although “President Akufo-Addo left Accra for Washington on Thursday 31st March, 2022 at 11:52pm aboard a United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with call sign UAL997”, he “couldn’t wait to fly his favourite US$18,000 an hour LX-DIO from Washington where he departed at 10:13am and arrived at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina at 11:22am

The MP noted that Akufo-Addo’s latest trip to the United States of America and then to the United Kingdom to address Bishop T.D. Jakes’ summit on pastoral leadership means that “since May last year, the Ghanaian taxpayer has spent at least GHS28.5 million on President Akufo-Addo’s ostentatious travels”.

Mr. Okudzeto, on Sunday 3^rd April 2022, took to his Facebook page and posted “So, President Akufo-Addo left Accra for Washington on Thursday 31st March, 2022 at 11:52pm aboard a United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with call sign UAL997.

“Before the President landed at 6:40am at the Dulles International Airport in Washington on the 1st of April, the ubiquitous luxury LX-DIO had landed at the same airport the previous day at 12:27pm waiting for President Akufo-Addo.

“President Akufo-Addo couldn’t wait to fly his favourite US$18,000 an hour LX-DIO from Washington where he departed at 10:13am and arrived at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina at 11:22am — a flight time of 01:09. It is important to acknowledge that there were more than a dozen available commercial flights with business class tickets not exceeding $700 in value.

“The President kept the LX-DIO with him as he addressed Bishop T.D. Jakes’ summit and then flew aboard the same extravagant jet yesterday the 2nd of April, 2022 at 9:28am US time and arriving at the London Stansted Airport at 9:40pm UK time. A flight time of some 7hours 54minutes.

This comes as the World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Pierre Laporte described the country’s current economic challenges as “very serious”, adding “at the World Bank, we’ve not hidden the fact when we’ve held discussions with government officials and even the head of state that Ghana faces a very tough road ahead to restore macro sustainability.”

Speaking at the 65th Independence Day Lecture held at the Economics Department of the University of Ghana, Legon, on Monday, March 7, 2022, on the ‘state of the nation’s economy he said Ghana’s economic situation is very serious.

“Is it a really serious situation? Well, the numbers speak for themselves”, Pierre Laporte noted, emphasising: “The situation is very serious”.

Pierre Laporte, suggested cost-cutting measures warning against unnecessary government expenditure.

Others such as Professor Stephen Adei, ex-Board Chairman of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), a governance expert Prof. Baffour Agyeman–Duah, who doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of the John A. Kufuor Foundation as well as Dr Ransford Gyampo, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana had suggested a reduction in the size of Akufo-Addo government but they were ignored by the President.

Below is Okudzeto Ablakwa’s post on President’s trips with pictures.

Good evening, folks.

I know many of you have been waiting keenly for our consistently unimpeachable and authoritative flight tracking details of President Akufo-Addo’s latest travel to the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

As always, we appreciate your high interest, generous encouragement and most importantly your patriotic partnership in ensuring that there is greater transparency and accountability in the governance of our dear and only country.

Unfortunately, I do not have good news for you. Our crusade to get the President to keep his promise of protecting the public purse and our resolve to end naked profligacy still requires more work.

With the pretentious notion that the obnoxious E-Levy has been secured to rake in more revenue to finance his lavish indulgences, and after hurriedly granting a presidential assent of dubious validity, as President Akufo-Addo knows very well that 136 NPP MPs cannot purport to constitute a decision-making quorum; President Akufo-Addo is back to his old ways of Russian Oligarchic travels.

After a momentary glimmer of hope when he was compelled to fly commercial to Dubai last month, many had thought his penchant for egregious betrayal of the Ghanaian people by his obstinate dissipation of scarce taxes on his sybaritic lifestyle despite a hitherto loud promise to protect the public purse now belongs to the past. More so, considering his government’s public posture of massive expenditure cuts as a direct response to the current economic crisis.

Apparently, we were merely deceived; President Akufo-Addo has for the umpteenth time ignored the precarious state of the Ghanaian economy and abandoned Ghana’s US$36million Presidential Jet in favour of his most cherished ultra-luxury toy — the LX-DIO which now rents for US18,000 an hour.

It is clearly a helpless costly addiction which sadly, the Ghanaian taxpayer must pay for.

The President’s latest misconduct appears to be the most deceptive thus far.

His new “meet-me-there-strategy” is a well hatched one to create the impression to Ghanaians back home that he’s indeed repented and now committed to flying commercial only to catch up with his chartered aircraft in transit for the rest of his travels.

So, President Akufo-Addo left Accra for Washington on Thursday 31st March, 2022 at 11:52pm aboard a United Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with call sign UAL997.

Before the President landed at 6:40am at the Dulles International Airport in Washington on the 1st of April, the ubiquitous luxury LX-DIO had landed at same airport the previous day at 12:27pm waiting for President Akufo-Addo.

President Akufo-Addo couldn’t wait to fly his favourite US$18,000 an hour LX-DIO from Washington where he departed at 10:13am and arrived at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina at 11:22am — a flight time of 01:09. It is important to acknowledge that there were more than a dozen available commercial flights with business class tickets not exceeding $700 in value.

The President kept the LX-DIO with him as he addressed Bishop T.D. Jakes’ summit and then flew aboard the same extravagant jet yesterday the 2nd of April, 2022 at 9:28am US time and arriving at the London Stansted Airport at 9:40pm UK time. A flight time of some 7hours 54minutes.

At this point, it is unclear if the President will return to Ghana with the LX-DIO on Wednesday or if he would stick to the new deceptive strategy of being seen in the Ghanaian jurisdiction aboard commercial flights while hiding his elaborate chartered arrangements from the prying Ghanaian public.

It is imperative to note that so far, the Ghanaian taxpayer must cough up an astronomical US$465,000 in luxury rental charges. At current exchange, that is a scary GHS3, 505,515.49.

This will mean that since May last year, the Ghanaian taxpayer has spent at least GHS28.5million on President Akufo-Addo’s ostentatious travels.

How duplicitous is that for a government that claims to be cutting expenditure drastically in the wake of widespread excruciating hardships and economic mismanagement, and yet our President has the conscience to spend a whopping 3.5million Ghana Cedis attending a church service and a fanciful tourism event in London.

With this terrible example from the President by attending events at great cost to the taxpayer that cannot be classified as priority, one wonders how the presidency can enforce its recent ban on ministerial international travels.

Be assured, this latest “meet-me-there-strategy” shall be vigorously exposed and defeated.

Our tracking continues; we shall keep you updated.

For God and Country.

Source: thenewsroomonline