The Director of Communication at the Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin, has described as “lies and propaganda” claims by Samuel Okudzetu Ablakwa on President Akufo-Addo’s latest trip to Belgium and Rwanda.
President Akufo-Addo, left Ghana on Sunday to attend the 15th Edition of the European Development Days Forum in Brussels, Belgium, as well as the 26th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations in Kigali, Rwanda.
This trip, according to the North Tongu MP, caused the nation a conservative bill of €480,000.00 with the use of a private jet rental.
The Lawmaker explained that the ultra-modern private jet is at the astronomical cost of €20,000 an hour for his latest trips to Belgium and Rwanda.
But, the Presidency says the claims are inaccurate.
“These claims by the North Tongu MP are not accurate, and as a Member of Parliament, I was hoping he would have been factual and truthful in his claims, and resisted the urge to engage in propaganda,” Director of Communication at the Jubilee House disclosed in a statement dated June 24, 2022.
He continued: “President Akufo-Addo left Ghana on Sunday, 19th June 2022, to attend the 15th edition of the European Development Days Forum in Brussels, Belgium. It is public knowledge that President Akufo-Addo DID NOT travel to Belgium aboard a chartered Airbus ACJ319, as is being claimed by the North Tongu MP.
“The President travelled to Belgium onboard an Air France Commercial Flight (AF0584), which departed Accra on Sunday at 7:20pm, made a stop-over in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and then continued to Paris. In fact, all of President Akufo-Addo’s 12-member delegation travelled commercial.”
However, there had been an emergency situation that compelled the Presidency to go for a chartered flight for the President and his entourage as a result of strike action in Brussels, the statement signed by Eugene Arhin explained.
According to him, the option to travel using a direct commercial flight from Brussels to Kigali was not available as a result of the situation in Brussels.
“…the decision was taken to charter a flight for President Akufo-Addo and his entourage to make the eight hour and forty-minute flight (8h 40min) flight from Brussels to Kigali on Wednesday, 22nd June.
“This was done to ensure that the President made it to Kigali on time to participate in the ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday, 23rd June, for commencement of work on the Pan-African Vaccine Manufacturing Project, involving Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and BioNTech SE, the German biotechnology company, as well as attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which also is being held in Kigali, Rwanda.”
Attached is the full statement from the Presidency
