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A Bombardier Challenger 604 private jet belonging to Ghanaian industrialist Ibrahim Mahama departed Kotoka International Airport on April 3, heading abroad for conversion into a fully equipped air ambulance. The aircraft, registration N604EP and widely known in Ghana as the Dzata jet, will be retrofitted with life-support systems and critical care equipment to enable it to serve as an emergency medical evacuation aircraft available to the public at no cost.
The departure follows Mahama's announcement in early March that he intended to repurpose his older aircraft after taking delivery of a new Bombardier Global 6500 on March 3, 2026. The Global 6500, ordered in 2024 and valued at approximately $70 million, is an ultra-long-range jet capable of flying up to 6,600 nautical miles without stopping. It runs on Rolls-Royce Pearl engines and arrived in Accra wearing custom grey-and-white livery bearing the Dzata branding, the Ewe word for lion, which Mahama has used to brand his aviation assets.
Speaking after the new aircraft arrived, Mahama was direct about what he planned to do with the plane being replaced. "My old plane is an air ambulance now, an emergency air ambulance for every Ghanaian. Not for me alone, but for everyone," he said.
The aircraft's history
The Bombardier 604 being converted carries a history that stretches well beyond personal travel. The jet first attracted national and international attention in 2014, when the New York Times reported that US authorities had flagged the aircraft over a trip to Iran. Over the years, both President John Dramani Mahama, who is Ibrahim's brother, and Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II used the aircraft for travel, making it one of the most recognisable private jets in Ghana.
Less than a year before its conversion, the aircraft was deployed for an emergency mission after a military helicopter carrying senior government officials crashed in the Ashanti Region. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among those who died. The Bombardier 604 was used to transport the crash victims to South Africa for forensic examination.
Filling a healthcare gap
The timing of the conversion is notable. Ghana's National Ambulance Service recently announced plans to procure 400 new ground ambulances and 500 medical motorbikes to strengthen pre-hospital emergency care nationwide. Air ambulance capacity has been an acknowledged gap in Ghana's emergency response infrastructure, particularly for patients in remote areas or requiring inter-regional transfer under time pressure.
No operational framework, partner institutions or timeline for the aircraft's return and deployment have been publicly announced. It remains unclear whether the service will operate in partnership with the National Ambulance Service, private hospitals or other agencies.
The political dimension
Mahama's acquisition of the Global 6500 attracted sharp criticism from the opposition New Patriotic Party. Paul Yandoh, the NPP's Ashanti Regional Communications Director, questioned the optics of the purchase. "Farmers are suffering because their wares are not being bought, and then a president's brother has gone to buy a private jet," Yandoh said. Supporters of Mahama's party, the National Democratic Congress, pushed back, arguing that the aircraft was a private acquisition that did not involve public funds.
Ibrahim Mahama, 55, was born in Piase in Ghana's Northern Region and founded Engineers and Planners in 1997, building it into one of Ghana's most prominent heavy equipment and construction firms with significant operations in the mining sector. He also founded Dzata Cement and holds interests across several other sectors. His decision to redirect the older aircraft toward public emergency services, rather than sell it, has drawn wide public attention as the conversion gets underway.
