'Presidential jet has not been to Europe in a long time' - GAF denies use by Akufo-Addo's relatives

The Ghana Armed Forces has called the bluff of the Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, over his allegations that some close relatives of the president had used the Presidential Aircraft for a recent foreign shopping trip.

GhanaWeb had reported earlier that Mensah Thompson had alleged that the presidential jet had been made available to some children of a close relative of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo between December 20 to December 30, 2021, for a shopping trip to the UK.

He also alleged that these relatives brought their friends along on the trip and they turned the Presidential Jet into a party venue, of which they shared pictures and videos on social media.

“So between the 20th and 30th of December, 2021, during the Christmas, the children of a close relative of the President took Ghana’s Presidential Jet the Falcon EX jet on a trip to the UK just for Christmas shopping.

“They didn't go alone, they went with their friends and partied in the sky all through the trip, taking snap videos and flaunting their lucky adventure,” he alleged.

But the Ghana Armed Forces has called the allegations “untrue” and “frivolous.”

In a statement to GhanaWeb, and signed by the Acting Director of Public Affairs of the GAF, Commander Andy La-Anyane, they said that the presidential aircraft has not been to Europe in a while, making the claims false.

“We wish to state without any equivocation that the said publication is untrue, frivolous and without any basis. We additionally wish to state that the said aircraft has not been to Europe for a very long time and this publication is therefore a figment of the author's imagination. These allegations can easily be verified since there is always a task order for the movement of all Ghana Air Force platforms,” the statement said.

Additionally, the statement explained that it considers the allegations by the ASEPA boss as a plot to undermine the image of the GAF, adding that this slows it down in its work at ensuring that the territorial borders of the country are protected.

“We believe that this unfortunate publication which has been circulated widely is a calculated effort to undermine the image of the Ghana Armed Forces in the eyes of the general public. More disturbing is the fact that whilst the GAF is focused on its mandate of protecting the territorial integrity of the country against serious external and internal threats, others are working very hard to distract us from our core mandate,” the statement added.

Read the full statement below:

Source: Ghanaweb.com