‘Nobody has travelled via private’ — Mahama’s aide dismisses ‘propaganda’

Senior Presidential Advisor and Special Aide to President John Dramani Mahama, Joyce Bawa Mogtari, has dismissed claims that the President’s recent official travels were undertaken by private jet.

President Mahama is on a two-country visit to Japan and Singapore to deepen bilateral relations, expand trade and investment ties, and advance cooperation on shared development priorities.

Since his departure, some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) have alleged that the President chartered a flight at a huge cost to the state.

But in a social media post on Tuesday, August 19, Madam Bawa Mogtari described the allegations as false and urged anyone with doubts to verify the facts.

“Let me state this once and without any fear of contradiction or equivocation that nobody has travelled via private jet to Japan or to Singapore.

“If this propaganda is anything to go by, then our democracy is doomed. Matters of presidential travels are matters of public interest and can very easily be checked without generating unnecessary drama,” she wrote.

Her reaction follows a post by Old Tafo MP, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, who alleged that taxpayers’ money had been used to pay nearly $690,000 for a chartered jet.

“This private jet, M-BAEP, left Accra this morning around 7 a.m. It is estimated to cost $15,000 per hour to rent this flight. Altogether, the cost comes to an incredible $690,000 without including waiting times and/or stopovers,” the MP alleged.

The issue has since sparked national debate over the cost of presidential travel.