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Can Uganda afford high-flying leaders? - Opinion

The East African : "LAST WEEK, PRESIDENT YOWERI MUSEVENI got the nod from a parliamentary committee to buy himself a Gulfstream G500 executive jet. The new purchase, coming with a price tag of $48 million, will replace the Gulfstream GIV/SP presidential transport Ugandan taxpayers bought for $31 million just seven years ago.
The president and his men argue that the new aeroplane will offer Museveni more security because of its more advanced features; besides, the GIV has gone out of production and will prove progressively more difficult and expensive to maintain. The prominent difference between the two aircraft is in the range, with the new plane capable of non-stop flights between Entebbe and the US east coast at altitudes as high as 51,000 feet. The earliest date the new jet can be delivered, however, is sometime in 2012, well beyond Museveni’s current term"

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