The Government has dismissed claims by Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin South, over the alleged arrival of two flights at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) suspected to be involved in drug trafficking and money laundering.
Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Minister of State in-charge of Government Communications, in a video message, said despite an invitation by the security agencies to the MP to provide evidence to substantiate his claim, he was unable to do so.
He said whilst the Government welcomes legislative oversight and scrutiny and criticism of any sort aimed at ensuring that they improve governance, it was important to condemn the level of political obscurantism, targeted at misinforming people and misleading the public and bringing government’s name into dispute for no reason.
He said in the last few days, the disinformation machine of the New Patriotic Party had been ratcheted up and that they had taken it a notch higher.
He said this time, Rev Fordjour, the MP for the good people of Assin South, had made wild claims to the effect that two aircrafts, which passed through Ghana for various reasons were carrying drugs and that was the reason why they were here.
The Minister said the MP also alleged that they were involved in money laundering and therefore he was calling for investigations.
Mr Ofosu said President John Dramani Mahama gave Rev Fordjour the opportunity to present any evidence or any basis he had for making that claim to the security services, so that together they could look into the matter to ascertain whether there was any truth in it.
“I can report to you that because he (Rev Fordjour) knew he was peddling total falsehoods and lies, he now claims after being invited to assist with the investigations that he was speaking on behalf of the Committee that he was part of and that the views he expressed were not his personal views,” Mr Ofosu stated. “So because of that, he says he’s unable to cooperate with the security agencies.”
Mr Ofosu alleged that Rev Fordjour was peddling falsehood because the facts as they exist vary completely from the claims that he made.
The Minister said when Rev Fordjour made that claim, he was only seeking to peddle falsehood in a bid to undermine the confidence that the people of Ghana had in the Government.
Mr Ofosu said the truth was that two aircrafts with completely different purposes arrived in Ghana and their arrival was perfectly legitimate and they were in the country for genuine reasons.
He said the first one was an Antonov Flight 12BK with registration number CVK7037; adding that the flight essentially was a cargo plane which arrived on the 12th of March, 2025.
The Minister reiterated that no plane arrives in Ghana without a landing permit.
He said the plane secured a landing permit with number GAF/TMAO/25/7863.
Mr Ofosu said the purpose for arriving in Ghana was what they call a technical stop.
He said essentially this was a cargo flight that was destined for the European Union markets and European Union regulations dictate that some specific regulatory requirements be met before any plane of that sort could enter the EU.
He said the plane originated from Luanda in Angola and that it was loaded with oil drill equipment and lubricant oil which were contained in jerry cans.
He said it was headed for the EU markets; stating that “Luanda does not have the certification to carry out the sort of requirements that this plane had to meet before entering the EU markets”.
Mr Ofosu said the specific requirement was a scanning and screening RA3 procedure, which was a requirement to enter the European Union; saying “Luanda doesn’t have it”.
The Minister said the Swiss cargo facility at the Kotoka International Airport had that certification and it could do that kind of scanning.
“Whilst here it developed an engine blade fault. Its engine blade was damaged and then it was also detected that there was severe oil leakage which required immediate attention,” he said.
“For that reason a replacement aircraft URCEZ with registration number CVK7007 was brought in to evacuate the cargo.
The aircraft that was damaged remained here for 13 days. That is between 12th March and 25th March, 2025.”
Mr Ofosu said after it had been inspected by aviation security, officials of the Narcotic Control Commission, officials of National Security and National Intelligence Bureau, no contraband or unlawful commodities were found on the aircraft.
Mr Ofosu said the second aircraft in question was a Hawker 800XB with registration number N823AM.
He said this aircraft was operated by an organization called Air Med International, which was based in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States of America; adding that it operates as an air ambulance.
The Minister said Air Medical International flights in Ghana were handled by Tropicana Airlines and the plane landed in Ghana on 20th March from Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.
Mr Ofosu said having gone through Luanda in Angola, it was also in Accra for a technical stop, which was refueling and crew rest, which was perfectly legitimate activity.
He said it was cleared to land in Ghana with clearance number GAFTWXR252604 OFAA029-25.
The Minister explained that whilst it was landing in Ghana it developed a tyre burst and some difficulty with its landing gear and therefore, needed to remain here to be serviced.
He said another aircraft with registration number N864 arrived on 22nd March with tyres and flight engineers from Luanda to replace the damaged tyres of the aircraft.
Adding that once this was fixed it departed the Kotoka International Airport on 25th March.
Mr Ofosu said the aircraft was once again inspected by officials of aviation security, officials of National Security, officials of the National Intelligence Bureau and Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), who made sure that it did not contain any unlawful substances as alleged by Reverend Fordjour.
“So in a nutshell the claims of Rev Ntim Fordjour are false. He cannot prove it. That is why he is running away from the investigating bodies. He is unable to provide any shred of evidence to back his claim.
Mr Ofosu said Rev Fordjour had failed to honour the invitations extended to him by National Security because he did not have evidence.
GNA
