President Nana Akufo-Addo flew the Presidential aircraft for his brief visit to Burkina Faso, having come under criticism for allegedly ditching the plane for a luxury airliner.
Akufo-Addo jetted off to Burkina Faso on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in his capacity as Chairman of the ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments following a terror attack in Burkina Faso that killed 160 people.
According to flightradar24, the Dassault Falcon 900EX (9G-EXE) departed the Kotoka Accra at 8:08 am on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, and arrived in Ouagadougou at 9.19 am.
It departed Ouagadougou at 11.27 am and landed at Kotoka at 12.41 pm.
The President has come under intense public criticism following a claim by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, that the President’s recent trips to France, Belgium and South Africa was made on an expensive airliner that came at huge costs for the taxpayer.
According to the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, the President paid over GH¢120,000 every hour on the “top-of-the-range luxury aircraft.â€
Mr Ablakwa subsequently filed an urgent question in Parliament demanding an explanation for the President’s decision to ditch the Presidential jet for the expensive airliner.
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That question has still not been tabled at the legislative body.
Persons who claimed to have knowledge of the situation explained that the President uses the presidential jet for short trips but rents an aircraft for long-distance travels.
They explained that the presidential jet was not in the best condition for long flights.
Meanwhile, in Burkina Faso, Akufo-Addo held talks with President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré following the terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 160 persons in the Francophone country.
According to a report by state-owned Daily Graphic, while in Burkina Faso, Nana Akufo-Addo assured President Kaboré and the people of Burkina Faso of the support of the countries of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) towards ridding the region of the menace of terrorism.