The Presidency has denied allegations of extravagant travel expenditure leveled against President John Mahama by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old-Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, over the former’s recent official trips to Japan and Singapore.

On Sunday, August 17, the Presidency announced in an official statement issued by the Spokesperson to the President and Minister for Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu (MP), that President John Mahama had resumed formal official duties with visits to Japan and Singapore. The president and his entourage had already departed for Japan.

Following the announcement, the Old-Tafo MP, in a Facebook post, alleged that the president had hired a private jet, which would cost the taxpayer an estimated $15,000 per hour.

“This private jet, M-BAEP, left Accra this morning around 7 a.m. It is estimated to cost $15,000 per hour to rent this flight. A simple calculation shows that the 7-hour journey already covered amounts to $105,000. If the flight proceeds to Japan, which is likely to take about 12 hours, that would be another $180,000.

“If it then continues to Singapore, approximately 7 hours away, that would add another $105,000. Finally, if the jet flies directly to Germany and then back to Accra, a total of about 20 hours return trip, that would add another $300,000. Altogether, the cost comes to an incredible $690,000 without including waiting times and/or stopovers,” he alleged.

In response, the Government Communications Minister dismissed the claims, describing them as “a mediocre attempt at propaganda.” He clarified that the president traveled to Japan on a commercial flight, Emirates, and not on a private jet.

“Well, um, clearly the MP in question is dabbling in a mediocre attempt at propaganda. He does not have any facts. He is just wasting everybody's time with that force. President Mahama has not travelled by private jet; the President travelled to Japan via Emirates, and it is something that you can check. It is not a secret or anything. So anybody who tells you otherwise is simply false,” Felix Kwakye Ofosu stated in an interview on Citi Eyewitness News on Monday, August 18.

On the MP’s claims that the president left the country around 7 a.m., Mr. Kwakye Ofosu argued that the allegations were baseless, noting that the president was present at the Thanksgiving service of the late former Defence Minister, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, held at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Accra on Sunday, August 17, 2025.

“Yesterday, I’m sure your station covered the Thanksgiving service for Dr Edward Omane, who was buried over the weekend. You saw that as of 10 a.m., the President was at that service. He left the place sometime around midday. Yesterday, this MP claimed that this flight, in quotes, left at 7:30 a.m. So how did the President emerge at the Thanksgiving service three clear hours after this MP claimed that the jet he was supposedly travelling in had taken off? So it is a complete waste of everybody's time. It’s a symbolic effort at propaganda which has badly backfired,” he fumed.

Acknowledging the importance of parliamentary oversight, Mr. Kwakye criticized the MP for peddling “claims that have no factual basis and that do not make any kind of sense.”

“You see, parliamentary oversight is an extremely serious activity. It is engaged in by the most meticulous and serious minds we have in parliament. It is not the place for anybody to get up and purport to be doing parliamentary scrutiny only to end up wasting everybody’s time…” he added.

Another allegation raised by Mr. Assafuah, which the Presidency denied, concerned the possibility that the purported private jet might have met the president elsewhere on his trip, or that his entourage—whose travel details he has persistently demanded—were the ones aboard.

During an appearance on JoyNews, Mr. Assafuah stated: “I'm not interested in the president; I’m interested in the president and the delegation. Because in their (sic) statement, they mentioned that the president was travelling with a delegation.

"Why are you singling out the president? Is it the case that the jet is meeting the president, or, if you like, some other people, somewhere? That is why the president, probably, if what they are alleging is the case, used a commercial airline which we don’t even know. If what they are saying is true, the president did not use the aircraft that I’m talking about, it does not mean that the president will not use it during (sic) his trip.”

Mr. Kwakye Ofosu, however, firmly rejected this claim. “Nobody, nobody, nobody has flown. Indeed, if you read the post, the MP does not even say that the jet went to Japan. Why would the delegation go to Japan and then go to Germany? Nobody has sat on any private jet to go anywhere as part of this delegation going to Japan. The President himself has flown commercial. Why would anybody travel on a private jet as a member of this delegation? It’s a completely baseless claim that should be dismissed.”

He continued, questioning the MP’s line of inquiry: “Is it this government’s policy that the President will not travel by private jet when there are commercial flights? Is that the position? Or what is the position?”

Meanwhile, President John Mahama is in Japan for the three-day 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled for August 20–22, 2025, in Yokohama. The conference is co-hosted by the Government of Japan, the United Nations, UNDP, the World Bank, and the African Union Commission.

The president touched down in Tokyo aboard Emirates flight EK 318, where he was received by officials of Ghana’s Embassy in Japan and representatives of the host government. According to the Presidency, the visit is “aimed at deepening bilateral relations, expanding trade and investment links, and advancing cooperation on shared development priorities.”

After concluding his engagements in Japan, President Mahama will proceed to Singapore for a three-day visit focused on strengthening investment ties and engaging with Singaporean leaders and business magnates.

“Following his engagements in Japan, the President will undertake a three-day state visit to Singapore. The state visit will include a courtesy call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, participation in the Africa-Singapore Business Forum, and an address at an investment forum to present Ghana's reform and investment priorities and strengthen private-sector linkages between Ghana and Singapore-based investors.”

According to the Presidency, these visits are intended to “attract investment, broaden market access for Ghanaian goods and services, mobilize technical and development cooperation, and bolster partnerships in technology, infrastructure, finance, and human capital development.”