Government has issued a statement to clarify President Joyce Banda’s usage of the presidential jet it insists is from “well-wishers” and is different from the one bought four years ago and sold this year.
In the statement released yesterday, government explained that the presidential jet Falcon 900 EX, registration number ZS-FCI was sold to Bohnox Enterprises Limited of British Virgin Islands early this year.
But it is public knowledge that the registration number of the jet that the late Bingu wa Mutharika was using and which President Banda sold was 7Q-ONE, not ZS-FCI, which is the number for the jet from “well-wishers.”
Last week, Nation on Sunday demonstrated that the jet President Banda is using is the same one bought four years ago, but which she sold mid this year ostensibly to cut costs—a move that won her international applauds as the epitome of prudential Executive leadership.
Nation on Sunday also established that Paramount/Fortune Air Fleet, which operates the “well-wishers” jet, is linked to Paramount Group, the firm that is the beneficiary of the President’s lucrative arms deals and sponsor of her now cancelled public relations arrangement with Bell Pottinger.
Information Nation on Sunday had retrieved from LAASDATA.COM, which calls itself the aviation enthusiast’s website for its prowess in tracking down aircrafts globally, shows the various changes in the technical details of the jet in question as it changed ownership over time.
The website says the jet’s current registration is ZS-FCI, describes the aircraft type as Dassault Falcon 900EX and its construction number as 38. That is the same serial number for 7Q-ONE.
Significantly, the website says the jet’s immediate past registration is 7Q-ONE—the number that was assigned to the presidential jet that Mutharika was using—and that before it changed hands to Malawi, its registration was N901MD/N68CG.
ZS-FCI is currently on sale and being advertised by South Africa brokers, Wentworth & Affiliates Incorporated.
It appears on an online pilot shop AVCOM after being photographed at a privately owned international airport north of Randburg and Sandton in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“Found this new addition to the RSA register ZS-FCI Falcon 900 EX] ex Malawi Presidential Jet], another one of the Paramount/Fortune Air Fleet,” reads a caption of the jet on www.avcom.co.za.
Presidential press secretary Steven Nhlane refused to comment on the matter when contacted last week.
A week earlier, Nhlane had said the plane belonged to the President’s well-wishers.
“You do not have to know them [well-wishers]. Besides, they have told us not to disclose their identities. That is what friends are meant for, helping each other,” he said.
In yesterday’s statement—released a week after the publication of the story—the Ministry of Information said President Banda has not at any moment during her last trips used a chartered plane that was formerly owned by the government, saying the referred plane was a different one. But the statement did not provide proof that the two planes were different.
It added that government has no control over what type of plane the “well-wishers” want to charter for the President, saying government’s responsibility was to provide to the well-wisher the standards of the plane befitting the President.
“The well-wisher is, therefore, at liberty to charter from qualifying entities. This is the case, too, when government charters a plane using its own resources,” it said.
Meanwhile, a new question has arisen on how the presidential jet, which was sold to Bohnox Enterprises Limited of British Virgin Islands, could have a South African registration code ZS, instead of a British one.
The plane’s history as shown on Laas’ current corporate jet register (laasdata.com) shows that after it was bought from Malawi, it never changed registration to a British number from ZQ-ONE as is required by international aviation rules. Instead, it registered as ZS-FCI under a South African code.
An aviation expert told Nation on Sunday this week that each country has what is called a call sign under the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that identifies it. The registration information shows no link to any British airline,, raising questions as to how the plane ended up being registered in a South African number and not British
