The fiercest critic of Nana Akufo-Addo’s oft-criticised expensive foreign travels, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said the cost of the President’s recent travels could settle the monthly stipend of as many as 7,000 NABCo trainees.
NABCo, short for Nation Builders’ Corp, is an initiative by the government in 2017 to close the widening graduate unemployment gap that many say pose a risk to national security.
However, the thousands of beneficiaries of the initiative working in the education, health other sectors have not received their monthly stipends for over 10 months.
Last week, thousands of aggrieved NABCo beneficiaries hit the streets to protest the delay in the payment of their allowances.
According to Mr Ablakwa, who is opposition National Democratic Congress MP for North Tongu, the President’s recent 10-day tour of some European countries cost the state a whopping GHS4.9 million – funds that could have gone into paying 7,000 struggling NABCo beneficiaries their month’s salaries.
READ ALSO: Photos: NABCO trainees hit the streets over delayed allowance payment
Mr Ablakwa has said many times that the President should not be chartering a high-end private jet to fly out of the country even for official assignments and especially for private business.
“Think about this: with the latest lavish presidential cruise costing the Ghanaian taxpayer some GHS4.9million; what this actually means is that at a stipend of GHS700 a month, Prez Akufo-Addo could have paid as many as 7000 NABCO trainees & perhaps avert the NABCO demonstrations,” he posted on Facebook.
A video footage of President Akufo-Addo’s US$14,000-an-hour LX-DIO captured at Kotoka earlier today, ahead of his departure to Atlanta, USA.
— Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa (@S_OkudzetoAblak) November 25, 2021
It is instructive to note that since July, the blue & white luxury LX-DIO has not been available for others to lease due to Akufo-Addo’s /1 pic.twitter.com/N5iNRdAeVy
It is has emerged that the President prefers the high-end blue and white luxury LX-DIO private jet, which cost the Ghanaian taxpayer $14,000 per hour, for his frequent long-distance flights.
It is the view of the MP that even if the President must fly a chartered jet, he could opt for a less expensive one considering that the Ghanaian economy is struggling with revenue and other challenges.
Nana Akufo-Addo left Ghana two weeks ago for a ten-day working visit to France, Guyana, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.
President Akufo-Addo's first visited Brest in France, where he participated in the One Ocean Summit on Friday, 11th February 2022.
Thereafter, at the invitation of H.E. Dr Mohamed Irfan Ali, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, he travelled to Georgetown, Guyana, to participate in the maiden International Energy Conference and Expo from 15th to 18th February 2022.