Posted: Daily Guide |www.dailyguideghana.com
Friday, 01 October 2010
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The much-awaited Presidential jet, Falcon 900EX Easy aircraft whose inauguration was postponed because of a delay in its arrival, has finally touched down at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra.
Sources at KIA told DAILY GUIDE that the aircraft, whose acquisition became the subject of a heated debate between members of the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration and the then opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2008, arrived yesterday at exactly 5pm.
This was confirmed by Defence Public Relations (DPR) Director Colonel Akintande Mbawine.
At press time yesterday, the DPR was said to be preparing a statement to the media.
The aircraft is thus expected to be outdoored at what promises to be a colourful ceremony any time soon, after officials of the Armed Forces take delivery of it.
In the absence of President Mills, who is currently in Japan in search of financial assistance, Vice President John Dramani Mahama was expected to perform the inauguration of the jet. But it was cancelled at the last minute when the military authorities were not sure of the arrival of the jet.
The Falcon 900EX Easy Aircraft was purchased by the Kufuor administration to replace the Fokker 27, otherwise referred to as the ‘flying coffin’ that the Ghana Air Force had used for the past 37 years as a presidential jet.
It was scheduled to be outdoored on Thursday, September 23, but had to be postponed because the jet could not arrive in the country as earlier reported.
The acquisition of the jet by the Kufuor administration attracted criticisms from the then opposition NDC who questioned the rationale for the plane at a time when the NDC claimed critical sectors of the economy, such as health and education, were badly in need of funding.
However, when Professor Mills took over the reins of government, the plane was configured to his specifications.
President Kufuor refused to use a Gulf Stream Presidential jet acquired by the Rawlings administration because its transaction was shrouded in mystery. He therefore began the process of acquiring the US$37million Falcon 900 presidential jet and an Airbus for the Ghana Air Force in 2007.