The Minority has slammed the government over its intention to spend over GHS13 billion over a four year period for the purchase of six aircraft for the Ghana Armed Forces.
Mr. Samuel Abudullai Jinapor briefing the media after the debate explained that the Minority is only looking out for the ordinary Ghanaian, as he argued that prevailing circumstances in the country “where nurses are agitating for recruitment, where arrears to nurses are not being paid, where teachers are not receiving arrears, where farmers are having a raw and bad deals across the length and breadth of our farming enclave of the country, where rice is rotting in warehouses , maize is not been purchased, where purchasing power is low, with workers of Ghana being given a salary increment of just 9 percent, where today liquidity is not in the system and everybody is feeling tight in terms of circulation of money in the country; is this suppose to be the priority of our government?”
The issue which was raised by Samuel Abu Jinapor during his debate of the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government generated heated arguments between the two sides of the House because Samuel Jinapor quoted the amount as $1.2 billion; but the Majority objected to it saying the budget never quoted any figure in dollars.
The Minority insisted that the over 13 billion cedis was exclusively for the purchase of the six aircraft and nothing else as the Majority wants to make the public believe.
The multi-year procurement process the Minority asserts would be financed as follows;
2026 – 2,682,000,000
2027 – 3, 543,060,000
2028 – 3, 330,145,800
2029 – 3,596,866,533
Background
The Minister of Finance in the 2026 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of government disclosed that the government intends to retool the Air Force with six new aircraft.
“The Air Force also faces significant operational challenges, including an ageing
fleet and aircraft with high maintenance demands, which affect readiness and
efficiency.
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 aircraft are expected to be delivered in four years’ time, if
the procurement processes are completed in 2026″
