The issue of a presidential jet gained prominence during the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo presidency after multiple reports confirmed that the then president was renting luxury jets for official travels at a time the opposition insisted that the presidential jet was in pristine condition.
During his November 2021 #ThankGhana address, President Mahama commented about Akufo-Addo’s use of luxurious jet rentals: “The misuse of scarce resources on the avoidable creature comforts of the President and other leading officials must come to an end.
“It is an unpardonable show of disrespect and insensitivity to the plight of the suffering masses for millions of Ghana cedis to be spent renting luxurious aircraft for Presidential travels at a time when the state of Ghana has a fully fitted and airworthy Presidential aircraft that can ferry the President anywhere in this world,” Mahama added.
Ghana’s Existing Presidential Jet
Ghana’s current presidential jet, a Falcon 900 Ex Easy, was manufactured in 2009 by Dassault Aviation in Paris and acquired in 2010. It has been in service through the John Evans Atta Mills, John Dramani Mahama (first term), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the current John Mahama administrations.
The aircraft was grounded in France in March 2025 for major repairs and maintenance, and returned in November 2025. Since returning to office in January 2025, President Mahama and Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang have routinely used the Dzata Jet, a private jet belonging to the president’s brother, Ibrahim Mahama, for some local and international travels.
This state of affairs has often sparked public debate and political controversy especially on the subject of what it costs the state to use the Dzata Jet. Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu clarified that the temporary use of the Dzata private jet imposed no additional cost on the Ghanaian taxpayer, except for fuel expenses.
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Aside from the Dzata Jet, President Mahama has also used commercial flights on a number of official trips, case in point being his visit to Japan and Singapore in August 2025, where he travelled by an Emirates commercial flight.
In his recent trip to Doha, Qatar, to participate in the Doha Forum 2025 on December 6, 2025, President Mahama travelled aboard a Qatar Airways Executive Jet provided by the State of Qatar at the request of the Emir, H.H. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
It is within the above context that the current presidential jet debate evolved. This article traces what the budget said about government plans to buy aircrafts as well as analyze the figures put in the public by some Members of Parliament as the cost involved.
Government allocates funds in 2026 budget for ‘Retooling of Airforce’
During his November 13, 2025 presentation of the 2026 budget, specifically under the Retooling of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) section, the Finance Minister said:
“Mr Speaker, the Ghana Air Force will be retooled. Beginning 2026, the Government of Ghana will begin the procurement processes for the acquisition of four modern helicopters, one long-range and one medium-range aircraft. Mr Speaker, these aircrafts are expected to be delivered in four years, if the procurement processes are completed in 2026.”
From the above, the budget does not explicitly mention presidential jets, VIP aircraft, or any form of executive transport. The document also does not assign unit costs to the equipment government was seeking to procure. However, a gross sum of 2,682,000,000 cedis is assigned to the line item of ‘Retooling the Airforce,’ as captured under the Ministry of Defence.
Finance Minister’s explanation
In an interview with Alfred Ocansey, the host of TV3’s ‘The Keypoints’ programme on November 15, 2025, the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, explained the rationale and timelines behind the acquisitions announced in the 2026 budget.
On the planned purchase of a long-range and medium-range aircraft, he stated that the process was still at an early stage:
“The Ghana Air Force is working with the manufacturers, also directly, to identify the type of aircraft that they will require. And again, from what we see, that will also take another 3 to 4 years before we get that, but it’s obvious that you are building a country. And we need to begin the purchases now so that hopefully the next four years by 2029, we will have this one long-range and one short-range aircraft for the Ghana Air Force.”
Responding to whether these aircraft could be used for executive or presidential travel, he noted: “It depends on the President of the day, but the Ghana Armed Forces obviously has a responsibility to pilot the President or executive anytime the President is travelling around.”
Claims by opposition and critics
Following the presentation of the 2026 Budget, some Minority Members of Parliament (MPs) claimed the government had budgeted for a presidential jet under the retooling of the Ghana Air Force agenda.
The Minority Leader, Afenyo Markin and some MPs argued that the government planned to acquire presidential jets but had failed to capture it explicitly for fear of the expected backlash.
On the floor of Parliament, during the budget debate on November 20, 2025, the former Defence Minister and Member of Parliament for Bimbilla Constituency, Dominic Nitiwul, claimed: “In your own budget, you said you were going to buy medium-range aircraft, and you are going to buy long-range aircraft. There are only two types you can buy. You can either buy military aircraft, or you can buy VIP aircraft.
“The Ghana Air Force has never and will never request long-range military aircraft. What they have requested is the VIP aircraft, and that is what I came here for. And I am saying to you that be brave enough, be brave enough and accept that you are going to buy two presidential jets.”
A Political Science lecturer, Dr Joshua Jebuntie Zaato, also on TV3’s Key Points show on November 22, 2025, asserted that the budget was effectively arranged to purchase two luxury presidential aircraft.
Majority Leader’s response
In response to the claims of purchasing a presidential jet, the Majority Leader and the MP for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, debunked the claim, stating that there is nothing in the budget captured as a presidential jet.
“There is a budget policy before us, that says retooling of the Air Force, there is nothing in it about a presidential jet… I am saying that this budget does not mention a presidential budget. This budget talks about retooling the Air Force…
“And I am saying that once we approve this budget, the details of what constitutes retooling of the Air Force, the details will come to us. That motion will come, and when that motion comes, and it is a presidential jet, we will debate it.
“But as of now, there is nothing in the budget about a presidential jet, and so you cannot premise your debate on the anticipation that this government might be considering the purchase of a presidential jet,” he said.
Claims about cost and allocation
The MP for Damongo Constituency, Samuel Abu Jinapor, contributing to the budget debate in Parliament, introduced conversations around how much government had budgeted for the two aircrafts:
“The government wants to spend 1.2 billion US dollars to purchase presidential jets. Mr Speaker, I’m talking about 1.2 billion US dollars to purchase presidential jets, when you cannot pay nurses, when you cannot pay teachers, when you cannot buy farm produce, when you cannot recruit workers.”
The MP for Manhyia South, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, argued that:
“Mr Speaker, our economic growth continues to fail to translate into meaningful job creation because of such choices, when you choose to spend 13 billion cedis to procure aircraft. Mr Speaker, and I have heard some of our colleagues say that it does not include presidential jets.
“The record of this House will bear us out that any time presidential jets have been recruited in this country, they come in the form of military retooling, and so therefore, Mr Speaker, we know that what is being procured is a presidential jet.”
Government’s response to the figures
Responding to claims on presidential jets, Government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu refuted Abu Jinapor’s claim of a $1.2 billion expenditure on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme on November 21, 2025.
He stated that the total of all procurement under the retooling of the Ghana Armed Forces, which includes four helicopters, two aircraft, 19 armoured personnel carriers and two vessels, will not even amount to $300 million.
“The minister has done multi-year budgeting, because we can not do all the retooling in this year. So, up to 2029, there will be similar allocations to ensure that is done. But, Akwasi, the four helicopters, and the two jets, plus the 19 armoured personnel carriers and the two vessels I’m talking about, all won’t amount to 300 million dollars. In fact, I can give you the price of the four helicopters. It is 125.9 million euros; I am sure it will be around 130 million dollars. For the four helicopters.”
Again, on JoyNews’ PM Express on November 25, 2025, Kwakye Ofosu, reiterated his previous point and said “the claims by Honourable Abu Jinapor and his colleagues in the NPP that we are spending 1billion dollars to buy a Presidential Jet are patently false.”
Parliament approves procurement agreement for equipment
On December 4, 2025, Parliament formally approved the government’s procurement agreements for new Ghana Air Force aircraft, authorising the acquisition of four helicopters and one long-range aircraft.
The approved contracts include a 125.97 million euro agreement with Airbus Helicopters for one H160 and three H175 helicopters, and a 60.68 million dollar agreement with Dassault Aviation for one Falcon 6X for the GAF.
A report of the Defense and Interior Committee that recommended that the procurement agreement be approved by Parliament gave the official costs involved. You can read the full report below this piece.
| Product | Official cost | USD conversion | Cedi equivalent (GH¢) |
| One H160 and three H175 helicopters (Airbus) | 125.97 million euro | USD 136.05 million | 1,701,989,367 |
| Falcon 6X | USD 60.68 million | USD 60.68 million | 697,730,648 |
| Total | Undefined | 196.73 million | 2,399,720,015 |
* USD 1 = GH¢11.49 and 1 Euro = GH¢13.51
Written by Nusrat Essah
