The Minister of Defence Dominic Nitiwu has jumped to the defence of Nana Akufo-Addo and has justified why government decided to to charter a £15, 000 per hour private jet for his recent trip instead of the presidential jet.
According to him, the President’s safety is the most important thing that was considered when deciding the kind of aircraft he should use.
He noted that the current Presidential jet is challenged with limited passenger and luggage capacity, inability to handle long distance travels which will require refeling and many other pressing issues hence there was a need to use something different.
“The decision to travel to long and multiple destinations such as the president travelling to France, Belgium and South Africa, will always require a larger aircraft even when the Falcon is airworthy…When the President is travelling with more than 20 people for a business trip…you will need more than just a Falcon, otherwise, the people will have to go more than a day ahead of the president to prepare themselves.
“The president himself must go more than a day ahead to prepare himself because no president can shower in this aircraft, so you can’t move from this aircraft straight into a meeting,” Mr Nitiwul said in Parliament on Wednesday.
He added that the President works hard enough to generate more money for the country and for that reason deserves better.