BY Issah Olegor
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has shifted his long-held stance on Ghana’s presidential travel arrangements, suggesting that the country should dispose of its grounded Falcon 900EX presidential jet and acquire a new aircraft.
The move comes after months of mounting criticism over his past attacks on former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s use of chartered flights.
The minister is now pushing a replacement of the presidential jet, arguing that a new one will serve the nation better.
“If the presidential jet is not fit for purpose, let’s sell it and purchase another,” he said — a sharp departure from his earlier resistance to new aircraft acquisition.
The question of presidential travel has dogged successive administrations since the Falcon 900EX was acquired under President John Agyekum Kufuor.
His successors, John Evans Atta Mills and John Mahama (in his first term), relied on it with little controversy.
Now, with John Mahama back in office and the Falcon grounded, the debate has come full circle.
Grounded Jet In France
The Falcon 900EX, which has served as Ghana’s official presidential jet since 2010, remains grounded in France after severe corrosion was discovered during routine servicing earlier this year.
Okudzeto Ablakwa confirmed at the Government Accountability Series briefing in Accra on September 15, 2025, that the extent of the damage has delayed its return indefinitely.
“The presidential jet is still being serviced in France. Routine checks revealed massive corrosion, which has extended the servicing period,” he disclosed. Technical experts had earlier reported that the aircraft’s fuel tanks and engine parts were severely compromised, making it unsafe for use until major replacements are completed.
Mahama’s Travel Options
With the Falcon out of service, questions have been raised about President John Dramani Mahama’s travel arrangements.
Opposition critics claimed that Mahama resorted to hiring expensive private jets for recent trips, including one to Japan and Singapore.
Okudzeto Ablakwa dismissed these claims as propaganda, insisting that the president had no difficulty flying commercial when necessary.
“President Mahama has not complained about commercial travel. No president will ever be stranded at an airport,” he said, rejecting suggestions that Mahama was inconvenienced abroad.
Old Promises Resurface
The latest developments have reignited debate over Okudzeto Ablakwa’s credibility.
In 2022, while in opposition, the North Tongu MP vowed to resign if Mahama government ever chartered a private jet instead of using the Falcon. That clip has resurfaced online, with critics accusing him of inconsistency as the Vice President, Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang was flown home from London in a chartered flight when she went for medical treatment recently.
New Patriotic Party MPs, including Vincent Ekow Assafuah, estimated that Mahama’s supposed private jet trip could have cost the state up to $690,000. Others, like Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, have demanded Ablakwa’s resignation and an apology to Akufo-Addo for what they describe as “petty politics.”
