Communications aide to President John Dramani Mahama, Stan Dogbe, has fiercely criticised NPP Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, describing him as “a disgrace of an MP” following comments on the president’s official trip to Japan.
Vincent Assafuah had claimed in a Facebook post that President Mahama was travelling aboard a private jet, estimating the trip’s total cost at about $690,000.
According to his breakdown, the M-BAEP jet, which allegedly departed Accra at 7:00 a.m., charges approximately $15,000 per flight hour. He suggested that the flight to Japan alone would cost $180,000, with additional legs to Singapore and Germany pushing the expenditure close to $700,000.
Stan Dogbe, however, dismissed the claims as false and unintelligent, pointing out that the president was in Accra between 10:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m., attending the thanksgiving mass of Dr. Edward Omane Boamah at Christ the King Parish, which was broadcast live on several TV stations.
He questioned how the president could have departed on the said private jet at 7:00 a.m. and still appear at the event.
Stan Dogbe stressed that President Mahama was travelling on a commercial airline alongside other Ghanaians, and not on a costly chartered flight as alleged. He further noted that if the trip had required a private aircraft, it would not have been at an exorbitant cost to the state.
Taking a direct swipe at the MP, Stan Dogbe said Vincent Assafuah should “invest in reading and learn how to be politically relevant instead of disgracing MPs.”
He accused him of “lying unintelligently” and repeatedly embarrassing himself with false claims, insisting such conduct brought Parliament into disrepute.
