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Member of Parliament for Assin South and Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, John Ntim Fordjour, has called for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
His demand follows allegations that President John Dramani Mahama chartered a private jet for his ongoing official visit to Japan. According to Mr Fordjour, this development contradicts an earlier pledge by Mr Ablakwa, who had vowed to resign if the President ever resorted to chartered flights while in office.
In a social media post on Monday, 18 August, Mr Fordjour shared an excerpt from a previous interview with Mr Ablakwa, accusing him of engaging in petty politics during the tenure of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. He also demanded an apology, stating:
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Mr Principle @S_OkudzetoAblak, Ghana is expecting your resignation. NDC must apologise to Ghanaians and Prez Akufo-Addo for doing petty politics with presidential travels.
He further urged government to take decisive action on the matter:
Govt must be bold to submit proposal for the acquisition of a new Presidential Jet for the President’s safety.
However, Deputy Chief of Staff, Stan Xoese Dogbe, has dismissed the claims. In a Facebook post, he clarified that President Mahama was travelling to Japan on a commercial airline from Accra’s Kotoka International Airport, accompanied by other passengers.
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Mr Dogbe added:
If the President’s trip requires a privately chartered aircraft and not his brother’s Dzata, which has saved the state huge sums of money, be sure that we will go for that, but not at an exorbitant cost to the state.
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Meanwhile, the controversy has sparked debate across social media, with many Ghanaians calling for an official response from the Foreign Affairs Minister.