The Member of Parliament for Okaikoi South, Nana Akomea, has demanded that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) apologises for opposing the purchase of presidential jets when in opposition. He said the NDC made the purchase of the aircraft a major campaign issue during the 2008 electioneering campaign and sought to suggest that the past Kufuor-led administration was a callous government that did not care about the suffering of Ghanaians – even though they knew the decision stemmed from a technical recommendation by the Ghana Air force. The French-built Dassault Falcon was commissioned on Thursday by Vice President John Dramani Mahama, who said the $30m (£19m) jet would enable officials travel in safety and dignity. President Mills in his first State of the Nation Address in January 2009 said he will review the decision to purchase the two executive presidential aircrafts, as initiated by the past government. "Ghana simply cannot afford the expenditure at this time and we certainly do not need two presidential jets," the President said at the time. Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme Friday, Nana Akomea explained that the New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s decision to buy six aircrafts, including two presidential jets, was at the request of the Ghana Air force. He said the existing aircraft being used by the Ghana Air force was purchased in 1978 and because it has been in use for 30-years, they could no longer be serviceable. The NPP MP further explained that the Air force informed the then government that the order for new aircraft had to be done 2 years in advance, so the government ordered for them in 2008 to be ready in 2010. Nana Akomea said if the NDC thought that living conditions back then were so harsh and that it was inappropriate to purchase the aircrafts, “how appropriate is it to go ahead and buy the aircraft” now that living conditions have almost deteriorated? However, Deputy Information Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a co-panelist on the programme, said the two presidential aircraft the NPP wanted to buy [which he said would cost the nation over $107million], became an issue because they were being bought at a time that Ghana was facing food and energy crisis. He explained that the NDC government has now purchased only one of the two presidential jets, a point Nana Akomea vehemently contested, insisting the two jets have all been purchased but that one of them would be used by both the Air force and the presidency. Mr. Ablakwa said the government has made prudently better negotiations with the Societe Generale Bank to cater for the cost of the aircrafts which would be paid in 5-years. Instead of criticizing the government and accusing it of inconsistency, Mr. Ablakwa thinks “the president must be commended for prudent management, for being mature and for being consistent with what he said he will do.” But Nana Akomea maintained that now that the NDC is in power and has realized that “those noises that you made are worthless noises and deception of the people…admit it so we can move forward...” The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Air force, Colonel Mbaweni Atintandi, in an interview with the programme hostess, stated that the Ghana Air Force does not back any political or ethnic group, stressing the need to depoliticize issues that concern them. “Let us all work together to make sure the Ghana Air Force gives us the security and the protection that we require,” he urged. Story By: Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana