Ablakwa’s question on Akufo-Addo’s travel expenses ‘disappears’ from Parliament’s agenda

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Minority spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa’s urgent question demanding accountability of President Nana Akufo-Addo’s travels in May was conspicuously missing in Parliament’s order paper as advertised on Thursday. Mr Ablakwa had demanded that the Defence Minister provides clarity on the cost of the travels to France, Belgium and South Africa on a supposed luxurious private jet said to have cost over ‘£15,000 an hour.

On the airworthiness of the presidential jet, the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, on Wednesday justified that the safety and security of the president accounted for the decision to hire a jet.

He insisted that the challenges with the current presidential jet, such as the limited passengers it can carry, the number of times required for refueling on a trip, and luggage capacity, among other things, make the aircraft not fit for purpose.

He concluded that no president can even take his shower on the aircraft when the need arises.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, was scheduled to respond to the same issue on Thursday and provide further details.

However, it was unclear why the question was taken off the order paper when other questions to be answered by the Finance Minister still remained.