The Director of Communications of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Richard Ahiagbah, has accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of winning the 2024 general elections on lies.
He made the point that the NDC lied about the presidential jet being in a perfect condition.
In a post on his X page, he said, “It is becoming clearer to Ghanaians that the NDC lied to win power. The Hon. Ablakwa’s lies about the presidential jet have been proven. The false promises of a 24-hour economy are obvious, especially for the youth, who struggle to find opportunities in the Mahama economy. Overall, Ghanaians are worse off since voting for the NDC on December 7th.
“What the government has done well is to control the media to push its agenda. Since taking office, the government can’t boast of any major achievements. The government has made life difficult for farmers, especially cocoa farmers. I challenge the NDC social media attack dogs and bots to name one thing this government has done for the youth. It’s all talk and media stunts… Elections indeed have consequences.”
Richard Ahiagbah also said that there is everything wrong with the decision of President John Dramani Mahama to use his brother just for official travels.
He made the point that the government and the NDC must stop defending President Mahama’s use of his brother’s jet because it promotes an environment that formalises the private relationship between the president and his brother, creating a recipe for serious conflicts of interest.
In a post on his X page, Aghiagbah said, “There is absolutely everything wrong with the President using his brother Ibrahim’s jet. It is, therefore, arrogant for the NDC and the government to justify this obvious conflict of interest and violation of President Mahama’s own code of conduct to us. The government and the NDC must stop defending President Mahama’s use of his brother’s jet because it promotes an environment that formalises the private relationship between the president and his brother, creating a recipe for serious conflicts of interest.
“The relationship between the president and his brother is private and should stay that way. The arrogant attempt to justify this clear conflict of interest is sickening and insulting to our sensibilities.
“President Mahama and the NDC won the 2024 election by telling Ghanaians that the Presidential jet was in perfect condition and that President Akufo-Addo should use it rather than rent a private jet for official duties abroad. Therefore, we expect President Mahama to use the presidential jet. However, if they now realise that the presidential jet is not in the pristine condition they claimed while in opposition, then the government should admit it and make justifiable arrangements for President Mahama to travel, rather than exposing the state to this major conflict of interest. The NDC’s hypocrisy on this issue is legendary. It’s shameful.”
Similarly, the Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, criticised President Mahama for travelling on his brother’s jet, especially when the economic justification for using the aircraft has not been provided.
In Mr Cudjoe’s view, the president’s action breaches the code of conduct he set for all his appointees.
President John Dramani Mahama is currently in Korea to hold bilateral talks with President Lee Jae Myung.
Mr Mahama travelled on a jet acquired by his brother, Ibrahim Mahama, raising concerns on social media about the financial or economic implications for taxpayers.
Commenting in a statement posted on his Facebook page, Franklin Cudjoe said:
“Mr President, with due respect, you cannot be asking your appointees not to travel without providing economic justification, and then you jump on your brother’s plane without providing us reasons why you think it is the only safe, available and cheaper airline.
“You recently flew commercial, and your communications team happily shared videos. We all applauded.
“Seriously, this sends conflicting signals about your own fidelity to the public code of conduct for public office. This is the second time I have heard about using Mr Ibrahim Mahama’s plane, and you may be earning back your own ‘dead goat’ syndrome, which was last rejected by many. Please stop,” Franklin Cudjoe wrote in the statement.
Similarly, investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni wrote:
“If Gabby Otchere-Darko were a private businessman, owned a private jet, and President Akufo-Addo used it for official trips.”
