The Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, has defended President John Mahama’s use of a private jet owned by his brother for official international travel.

According to him, the arrangement is temporary and necessitated by the absence of a reliable state aircraft.

Speaking on Top Story on Joy FM on Thursday, March 12, the minister said the President’s reliance on the aircraft belonging to businessman Ibrahim Mahama is only a stopgap measure until the government secures a more dependable aircraft for presidential travel.

He explained that the decision was taken to avoid the cost of renting expensive chartered planes for official trips while the state works to procure a new aircraft.

“The state of Ghana has a deficit in terms of its ability to ferry the president,” Mr Kwakye said, noting that “Before he became president, his brother had an aircraft that he was using. It is a fact well known to everybody.”

He said that instead of renting aircraft at high cost to taxpayers, the President chose to continue using the same aircraft temporarily while arrangements are made to acquire a new presidential jet.

“The president says that rather than going to take taxpayers’ money to rent an aircraft, let me continue using that aircraft that I was using pending the arrival of the arrangement the state has made,” he stated.

The Abura Asebu-Kwamankese MP questioned why the arrangement had become controversial, arguing that it ultimately saves the country money.

“So I ask the question: how does saving the country money become a problem for anybody?” he asked.

He also rejected suggestions that the arrangement amounts to accepting a gift or creates a conflict of interest, insisting that such concerns would only arise if the state already had a functional aircraft that the President ignored in favour of renting his brother’s jet.

“If it were the case that the state had an aircraft that was functioning and the president disregarded that and hopped into his brother’s aircraft and paid for it, in other words, rented it at a cost to the state, then there would be a legitimate basis to raise complaints of conflict of interest and profiteering by his brother,” he said.

• Read also: I’ll be surprised if Ghanaians think Mahama using his brother’s jet comes at no cost to the state – Asafo-Adjei

Mr Kwakye further revealed that the existing presidential aircraft has been deemed unreliable by the Ghana Air Force.

According to him, the military has advised against its use for presidential travel due to security concerns and frequent technical faults.

“The Air Force itself has said that because of security concerns and the frequent breakdown, they won’t recommend it be used for the president,” he said.

“They have indicated that its operations have proved unreliable and that it costs too much to maintain because the slightest movement requires repairs.”

He added that the government is already in the process of securing a new aircraft for presidential travel.

“Until then, the president says, ‘Let me use this arrangement that does not impose significant cost on the state pending the arrival of the aircraft,’” he explained.

“So it is not a permanent arrangement in any event. It is only because the state is constrained by the non-availability of a reliable aircraft.”

• Read also: President Mahama’s use of brother’s private jet breaches his own code of conduct – Walewale MP

His comments come after the Member of Parliament for Walewale, Abdul Kabiru Tiah Mahama, accused President Mahama of breaching the Code of Conduct for government appointees by repeatedly using his brother’s private jet for official international travel.

The lawmaker argued that the arrangement raises serious ethical concerns and constitutes what he described as a “palpable conflict of interest,” insisting that public officials, particularly the President, must avoid situations that could raise questions about ethical conduct or undue advantage.