{"id":103474,"date":"2025-11-15T18:16:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103474"},"modified":"2025-11-15T18:16:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T18:16:18","slug":"public-sentiment-cannot-guide-aviation-safety-bright-simons-on-presidential-jet-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=103474","title":{"rendered":"Public sentiment cannot guide aviation safety \u2014 Bright Simons on Presidential Jet debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 30 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Policy analyst and Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has urged Ghanaians to focus on data-driven analysis and stronger public oversight in national security decision-making, as discussions continue over the return of Ghana\u2019s Presidential Jet from mandatory servicing.<\/p>\n

In a detailed post on X, Mr. Simons said public debate over the safety and suitability of the jet has been clouded by sentiment rather than facts, despite assurances from the aircraft manufacturer and a \u201cworld-class maintenance facility\u201d that handled the servicing. <\/p>\n

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1. I mentioned that Ghana’s Presidential Jet is back in Accra from mandatory, periodic, servicing and has undergone extensive checks.<\/p>\n

2. A surprisingly large number of Ghanaians don’t seem assured even though the manufacturer of the plane and a world-class maintenance facility\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/OuDYUoHNvA<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bright Simons (@BBSimons) November 15, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cFeelings aren\u2019t very useful in engaging with this kind of subject. One must be prepared to be driven by data and analysis,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The Presidential Jet recently returned to Accra after undergoing extensive checks, but concerns have been raised on social media about its airworthiness. Some critics suggested that the President use an alternative private aircraft \u2014 nicknamed the \u201cDzata Jet.\u201d But Mr. Simons dismissed such suggestions, noting that the private jet is 25 years old<\/strong>, compared to the 15-year-old<\/strong> presidential aircraft, which also boasts three engines<\/strong>, Honeywell avionics<\/strong>, and a nearly 20% greater flight range<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He argued that the real issue is not which plane the President uses, but whether Ghana\u2019s security institutions have the professional independence and capability to advise on such matters. \u201cWhat should be of interest is the level of capability of the Ghana Air Force to provide thoroughly professional advice in such situations. Is the environment in Ghana cordial to such professional independence?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n

Mr. Simons warned that without a credible public culture of policy scrutiny, citizens cannot be confident that decisions made behind closed doors meet the highest standards. He pointed to other defence procurement controversies\u2014including Ghana\u2019s stalled acquisition of 19 armoured vehicles from Israel\u2014as examples of opaque processes that undermine public trust. \u201cAfter ~$40m of the $86m paid, not a single one has shown up since 2021,\u201d he noted, adding that Ghanaians have no clarity on what went wrong or how the renegotiation announced by the new government improves the situation.<\/p>\n

To raise the standard of security policy discussions, he called for a stronger think-tank ecosystem \u2014 similar to those in countries like Singapore, China, Korea, the UK and the US \u2014 and a more engaged citizenry that demands accountability. Without such a \u201ccritical policy audience,\u201d he argued, politics and policy will continue to operate in disconnected silos.<\/p>\n

He described this disconnect as \u201ckatanomics,\u201d a framework he says explains many of Ghana\u2019s long-standing collective action failures.<\/p>\n

Mr. Simons\u2019 comments add to growing public conversations about transparency, accountability, and the strength of Ghana\u2019s security institutions at a time when the country faces sensitive defence and procurement decisions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PublicPolicy analyst and Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has urged Ghanaians to focus on data-driven analysis and stronger public oversight in national security decision-making, as discussions continue over the return of Ghana\u2019s Presidential Jet from mandatory servicing.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6391,2840,1883,117,10,9,2875],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-bright-simons","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular","category-presidential-jet"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}