Former Director of Communications at the Presidency, Mr Koku Anyidoho who served during President J.E.A. Mills\u2019 era has justified why Ghana needs to procure a new and bigger aircraft for presidential travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He acknowledged that the current Falcon for presidential travels has occupancy challenges apart from the issue of stopping to refuel when on long travels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking in a radio interview with Accra-based Okay FM, monitored by Graphic Online on Wednesday morning (September 29), Mr Anyidoho said \u201cthat is why President J.A. Kufuor wanted to buy two aircrafts, the Falcon and a bigger one, either an Airbus or a Boeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somehow, the second one was not procured and the Falcon became \u201can albatross around our neck,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Anyidoho said with the current debate on the need for a bigger presidential aircraft, he completely supports the move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was reacting to the public debate on Ghana\u2019s presidential jet following a disclosure by the Presidency that plans were underway to procure a new and bigger aircraft [over 100 passengers] for the Ghana Airforce, which will also serve presidential travel needs.Related Articles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mentioning himself [Anyidoho] as part of the people who should stop politicizing the issue of procurement of a presidential jet and mentioning how the then opposition \u2013 National Democratic Congress (NDC) \u2013 in 2007 opposed President Kufuor\u2019s decision on purchasing two aircrafts, Mr Anyidoho said his experience in government between 2009 and 2012 was indicative that President Kufuor\u2019s decision was in the interest of the state, safety for the presidency and cost-saving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Touting his experience and close working relations with the late President J.E.A. Mills, Mr Anyidoho elaborated the difficulties President Mills went through especially on international travels when he opted to travel commercial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He revealed that the challenges led to President Mills opting for a chartered flight on one occasion from USA to Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also revealed that in 2009, President Mills on his first local trip by air when he became President, went to Tamale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he [Mills] traveled with a chartered flight [propeller engine] from Accra to Tamale with some ministers and that since the flight was hired from Italy, the crew [young French pilots who could not even speak English] was not familiar with the Tamale runway, and they nearly dropped President Mills on an old and an abandoned runway in the Tamale area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said almost everyone on board had to get involved in physically directing the crew to the proper Tamale runway after they had spent more than the normal 45minutes flight time from Accra to Tamale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Anyidoho refused to disclose who spearheaded the hiring of the aircraft in what he said was a \u201cserious matter\u201d in 2009. He said the cabin was even filled with fumes and they could smell aviation fuel in the cabin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said this incident was kept out of the public domain but he deemed it fit to reveal it since that incident influenced President Mills\u2019 decision to equip the Ghana Airforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said it was from that experience that the Ghana Airforce decided to take complete control over President Mills\u2019 air travels both locally and internationally and President Mills also decided to adequately equip the Airforce to enable it to discharge its duties adequately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Anyidoho said even though, it was the wish of President Mills to limit himself to commercial flights for international travels, the experience on the job made it clear that the Ghana Airforce needed a bigger aircraft that could be used by the Airforce and also serve presidential travel needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Mills\u2019 personal approach to governance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said when President Mills took over power in 2009, the Falcon had already been paid for by his predecessor [President Kufuor], and abrogating the contract would have led to a judgment debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo in the interest of the state, the Falcon was accepted\u2026 but to be frank, without engaging in NDC\/NPP politicking, the Falcon had issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the argument that the Falcon has occupancy challenges is true and not a \u201clie.\u201d So President Mills preferred flying commercial a number of times instead of using the Falcon during his tenure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This, he said enabled President Mills to avoid stopping to refuel with the Falcon on long-haul travels which also came with additional cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the opposition by President Mills to the procurement of a new presidential jet and the reason he cancelled the order for a bigger one in addition to the Falcon had to do with the \u201cindividual [Mills] and his personal approach to the whole issue of governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo President Mills didn\u2019t find it appropriate most of the time\u201d to travel with the Falcon and so it was reserved mainly for short hauls in the African region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said once it was outside the African region, President Mills used commercial flights and cited an instance in 2010 where he used Namibian Airways to South Africa to watch the World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In all this, Mr Anyidoho said the \u201csecurity people were not happy because it was unsafe and it inconvenienced other passengers on the commercial flights in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis whole business of how we take care of our presidency, how we manage the presidency,\u201d Mr Anyidoho said was something that needs to be looked at in the broader public debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said some of his colleagues and some of the people spearheading the argument on the presidential jet and had the opportunity to serve in President Mills\u2019 government were not at the presidency, even though some of them were deputy ministers, CEOs, they didn\u2019t get first hand information and that is why their arguments are sometimes flawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy experience in governance [as Director of Communication], because of my unique role as a speechwriter, a spokesperson, managing the President\u2019s PR, I got to be with the President for almost all his travels. Some of the aides and staffers were never with the President because their roles did not permit them to be around the President on such trips and that is why some of them got angry\u2026, and today they open their mouths and want to run me down but that is their business. If you had no role around the President, then those of us who roles, will not just carry you on a trip if you had no real role around him [President]. Those trips were not for funfair, they were for hard work. So if you were a Director of Operations at the Presidency, you had no operations on a trip to China, Japan and the UN, stay in Accra and do operations work and don\u2019t get jealous of the Director of Communications who had hard work to do on those trips,\u201d Mr Anyidoho said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said President Mills himself scrutinized the list for international trips and dropped some names who had no roles to play on the international trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy experience at the presidency, when I speak, I speak from that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n