The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has defended President John Dramani Mahama’s use of a private jet owned by his brother for official international travel, insisting that the arrangement is only temporary and due to the absence of a reliable state aircraft.
Speaking on Joy FM on Thursday, March 12, the minister explained that the President’s continued use of the aircraft belonging to businessman Ibrahim Mahama is a stopgap measure while the government works to secure a dependable aircraft for presidential travel.
According to him, the decision was taken to avoid the cost of chartering expensive aircraft for official trips at the expense of the taxpayer.
“The state of Ghana has a deficit in terms of its ability to ferry the president,” Mr Kwakye Ofosu said, explaining that the aircraft owned by the President’s brother had already been in use even before he assumed office.
“Before he became president, his brother had an aircraft that he was using. It is a fact well known to everybody,” he noted.
He said the President opted to continue with that arrangement temporarily rather than burden the state with the cost of renting aircraft while plans are underway to acquire a new one.
“The president says that rather than going to take taxpayers’ money to rent an aircraft, let me continue using that aircraft that I was using pending the arrival of the arrangement the state has made,” he stated.
Mr Kwakye Ofosu questioned why the decision had become controversial, arguing that the arrangement actually saves the country money.
“So I ask the question: how does saving the country money become a problem for anybody?” he asked.
He also dismissed suggestions that the President’s use of the aircraft amounts to accepting a gift or creates a conflict of interest.
According to him, such concerns would only arise if the state had a fully functional presidential aircraft, which the President ignored in favour of hiring his brother’s jet at a cost to the state.
“If it was the case that the state had an aircraft that was functioning and the president disregarded that and hopped into his brother’s aircraft and paid for it — in other words, rented it at a cost to the state — then there would be a legitimate basis to raise complaints of conflict of interest and profiteering by his brother,” he said.
The minister further revealed that the existing presidential aircraft has been deemed unreliable by the Ghana Air Force due to security concerns and frequent mechanical faults.
According to him, the military has advised against using the aircraft for presidential travel because it has recorded several breakdowns and is expensive to maintain.
“The Air Force itself has said that because of security concerns and the frequent breakdown, they won’t recommend it be used for the president,” he said. “They have indicated that its operation has proved unreliable and that it costs too much to maintain because the slightest movement requires repairs.”
Mr Kwakye Ofosu added that the government has already begun processes to secure a new aircraft for presidential use.
“Until then, the president says, ‘Let me use this arrangement that does not impose significant cost on the state pending the arrival of the aircraft,’” he explained. “So it is not a permanent arrangement in any event. It is only because the state is constrained by the non-availability of a reliable aircraft.”
His comments follow criticism from the Member of Parliament for Walewale, Abdul Kabiru Tiah Mahama, who earlier accused the President of breaching the Code of Conduct for government appointees by repeatedly using his brother’s private jet for official international travel.
The lawmaker argued that the arrangement raises serious ethical concerns and constitutes what he described as a “palpable conflict of interest,” insisting that public officials, particularly the President, must avoid situations that could raise questions about ethical conduct or undue advantage.
