A Burkinabe Business Man who is said to have given his private Jet to President George Weah has finally broken silence on many controversies surrounding the matter.
Business Man Mahamdou told the West Africa Democracy Radio(Wadr) Monday, that his intend to lend President Weah the plane was on a voluntary basis which lasted for two days.
He said the assistance given to the Liberian President is not the first instance as they have have been long time friends before George Weah’s ascendancy to the Liberian Presidency.
During a program at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs last Saturday, President Weah, acknowledged that the reports of him allegedly purchasing a US$30 million presidential jet was causing him problems. “This buying plane business is causing trouble,” the President said as he explained that he has a lot of wealthy businesspeople he considered a friend, including one from Burkina Faso but did not reveal the name.
Said President Weah: “The plane that they talking about, I got a friend in Burkina Faso, the managing director of Ebomaf. He said George I have a plane. I see you take the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire – that’s good but you also when you going to meetings, you need to also build your prestige. He said when you ready to travel just tell me and I will send the plane to you – and that’s the plane when it comes one day it stays, that’s the plane, that’s the plane they say we buying US$30,000 – I mean US$30 million”.
President Weah’s office has been reluctant to name the donor of the plane which has taken him on a number of trips on the African continent since his inauguration.
Presidential Press Secretary Sam Mannah went as far as to state that the President was under no obligation to disclose the name of the donor of the presidential jet. “The President is not under any obligation to inform the public about someone’s private property. He does not own the plane. The President is only obligated to notify the public if he uses taxpayers money to get a plane. The plane is not owned by the President.
Added Mannah: “I have no idea but it is a friend of the president. I don’t know who the friend is, but what I want to convey to the public is that the President does not own the jet and everything that is reported by the media is all insinuations. the President cannot afford to spend US$30 million on a used jet. I don’t think used jet cost US$30 million. Our budget does not support that and everything else is insinuation. And I don’t think it’s a problem for the President of the Republic to be presented with a jet to facilitate his travel. I mean as Liberians we should be excited about that on account that we are not using the state’s money to purchase a jet without the country’s knowledge and I think we should be excited that our president is being afforded the opportunity to facilitate his travels.”
Both President Weah and his press secretary have failed to acknowledge that gifts of such significant value create an actual or potential conflict of interests, which could lead to awarding of government contracts or influencing of legislation that could directly or indirectly affect the financial material interest of the person providing the gifts, especially if such a person is a businessman who could have a potential interest in business from the government of Liberia.
Weah Claims a Lot of ‘Wealthy Friends’
In dismissing reports that he had purchased a plane, President Weah promised that he will never keep Liberians in the dark. “I want you to understand that there’s nothing that will be done here by the leaders that you will not know. If we decide to buy plane which is, of course, is good for the country, if we decide to buy it, the first plane we decide to buy will not be a private plane, it will be a commercial plane that will take Liberians from here to Guinea, Ghana and Ivory Coast. We’ve been talking to a few people. We need Liberia to be a hub where people can catch a flight – because we are situated in the middle where everybody can come to us. We’ve been approached for our zones to be a hub. We are still in that discussion.”
The President said he has a lot of former adoptees including a 40-year-old woman who was 18-years-old when he reportedly adopted her, that have now become wealthy. “This is somebody who has so many friends. Most of my friends are wealthy and most of the children that I sent to school – from Cameroun, from Ivory Coast to France – all those kids are all wealthy kids. And you see during the campaign, I did not spend a dime to fly. The little boy that was living with me in Cameroun, George Waga and my daughter, you see – I adopted her when she was 18, now she is 40 something – she’s from Cameroun. So, it tells me that it’s not just only in Liberia that I work, around the world.”
EBOMAF also credits amongst its projects, the Presidential Palace and Residence of Kosyam, the Zone of commercial and administrative activities (ZACA), the Place de la Nation and the extension of the Boulevard des Tensoba in Ouagadougou and the Koudougou-Dédougou road.
EBOMAF’S interest in infrastructure and road construction is raising new interest in the company’s decision to make one of its planes available to the Liberian President, particularly in the wake of the government’s plans to construct what it describes as a coastal highway in the southeastern region of Liberia.
The Weah-led administration is currently locked in a controversial US$500,000 loan financing agreement with a questionable Singaporean firm, Eton Finance Private Limited.
‘No Strings Attached, Plane Owner Says
In addition to the Ebomaf construction company, Bonkoungou also owns the airline, Lisa Transport International from which the Dassault Falcon 900 Ex Easy plane was borrowed to the Liberian President.
Bonkoungou confirmed this to the West African Democracy Radio(WADR) Monday but insisted that no strings were attached and dismissed suggestions linking his gift of a plane to President Weah as a premise for getting a road construction contract.
Said Bonkoungou: “Mr. Bonkoungou does not need planes to build roads, building roads is the main activity of the EBOMAF group and it has nothing to do with the friendship between President George WEAH and us. The plane is no longer with him; he had two trips to make so we put it at his disposal so he could make them for free. After his journey, the plane left for other destinations.
Pressed whether there were any plans in place to sell the plane to the Liberian president, Mr. Bonkoungou said: “The intentions were friendly. I just told you that he is my friend and that I voluntarily lent him the plane for his trips.”
The businessman said when asked whether he would again make the plane available to the Liberian President said: “Mr. George WEAH is a model for Africa and whether by the mean of a plane or by other means, provided we have them, we will support the actions of President George WEAH in Liberia. And besides, our friendship is not new, it goes as far back as well before he was president, and he can count on the support of the EBOMAF group and mine.”
During the 2017 presidential elections, Weah, was seen flying around with a Max Air mini jet, from the Nigerian charter airline headquartered in Kano Airport. But Mr. Bongounkou said Monday that he too also made his plane available to candidate Weah. “The same plane was loaned several times to President George Weah before he became president.”
The airline, according to its website, offers carriers for emergency or scheduled business trips and has in its collection a range of aircraft including helicopters.
The Falcon 900 borrowed to the Liberian President is a French-built corporate jet aircraft made by Dassault Aviation. Improved models include the Falcon 900-B, featuring improved engines and increased range, and the Falcon 900EX featuring further improvements in engines and range and an all-glass https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_cockpitflight deck. The Falcon 900C is a lower-cost companion to the Falcon 900EX and replaces the Falcon 900B.
