4 Aircrafts For Military: NPP Are The First Fraudsters, Thieves And Corrupt Ones- Okudzeto

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority has impugned theft and corruption to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government in the wake of the hullabaloo that has characterised the government's decision to buy 4 aircrafts for the military. But a Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa has fired back at the Osei-Kyei Mensah-Bonsu-led group and the NPP as a whole, saying that by their own logic, they are the first thieves and corrupt ones when it comes to the purchase of aircrafts.

The Deputy Minister who was speaking to your authoritative, The catalyst, in an exclusive interview by phone yesterday said the NPP must be exposed for their lies and hypocrisy.

“First of all, we need to make the point that the website which the NPP is depending on and brandishing about is not a credible website.”

He said the website, www.aircraftcompare.com, which the NPP claims to be the basis of their attacks on the Mills government and claiming that the prices of the aircrafts being purchased have been inflated is not the manufacturer's website as they are claiming. “That is an independent website trying to compare prices of aircrafts.”

According to him, “When you go to that website, they have a loud disclaimer that they cannot vouch for the authenticity of their figures. And it is surprising that the minority will proceed to brandish such a bogus website around and use that as a basis to impugn corruption or fraud on the part of this government, and you would have expected that a serious minority would have contacted the manufacturers to have more authentic information for a healthy debate in Parliament.”

“The second point we need to emphasis is that if we want to go by the NPP's own argument and by that same website, when you look at the prices that website gives for the jets that NPP bought, they are still lower even three years after.

For example the NPP claims to have bought the Falcon for 37,115 million US dollars. Three years after, according to that website, the current price for that aircraft – the Falcon EX900- is 36 million US dollars” he pointed out. He said one would have taught that the current price of the Falcon, three years after the NPP bought it, would have been higher but it is lower on the same website the NPP is shouting their voices hoarse about. He questioned why the NPP is not asking questions about the current price of the Falcon per the quotation by the website as 36 million dollars when they bought it 37 million US dollars three years ago.

“So by their claim they are the thieves and corrupt ones and that they inflated the price of the aircrafts they purchased,” he said.

“And when you look at the second aircraft NPP bought, the one President Mills cancelled, the airbus, the price that has been quoted at that same website is 51 million US dollars. But the NPP was going to buy it at 67,865 million US dollars, so this website which clearly has problems and is not credible and has a disclaimer, the NPP wanting to use this website as the gospel truth has inadvertently fallen on its dagger. So if the NPP want us to use this website, then clearly they were the first people to steal from the people and they are corrupt.”

“It is clearly a shame that the NPP would rely on this website, and it also exposes their lies when they said that they obtained those figures from the manufacturers website,” since aircraft manufacturer's do not quote prices on their websites.

The deputy minister continued: “Now, it is also important for us to address the second issue of hypocrisy. If you look at the Wednesday Marcy 19, 2008, edition of the hansad, the NDC's position was not against purchasing of aircrafts for the military. We were opposed to buying two presidential jets. The military had brought a list of requests that they needed. They said they needed four aircrafts which would have cost this nation the two presidential jets that the NPP bought. Yet still, they were proceeding to buy the two presidential jets and they did not even have enough money. The Societe Generale Loan that paid for the Falcon only covered 85 per cent of the cost”

He pointed out that the airbus was going to be paid for fully with the Ghanaian taxpayers' money, which is different from the present deal where the Mills government has secured a loan to cover for all the four jets.

Going further, the deputy minister said in 2006, the NPP bought four jets but are talking as if the first time they tried to buy jets was in 2008.

“In 2006, they traded the Gulf Stream Jet III for 4 K8 Chinese made trainer light attached aircrafts and a flight stimulator and that made it 5. At the time, we did not oppose it but we were opposed to how they proceeded and engaged in this transaction without parliamentary approval.”

Describing the NPP's action as “a case of poetic justice,” he pointed out that the same people had complained that the transaction that led to the purchase of the Gulf Stream III was not transparent enough. But they proceeded to exchange the Gulf Stream III and added more money to it for the Chinese aircrafts.

“They sold it for cheap. The aircraft that was bought for 14 million US dollars and according to the experts, we could have sold it for 9 million dollars if we had sold it earlier. The NPP decided to leave it to rot and sold it for cheap without parliamentary approval. They added more money to buy these four Chinese aircrafts and a stimulator valued at about 80 million US dollars according to our checks at the time.”

Hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa said “The NPP do not have a case. They have fallen on their own dagger and need to be exposed.”