Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has revealed that the conduct of government in its quest to construct the National Cathedral is embedded in illegality and lack of forthrightness.
According to him, the government first stated the project as a private and personal pledge, however, public funds are now being used to facilitate the construction. He explained that the monies were used without recourse to parliamentary processes and strict public procurement practices.
“The whole arrangement, the whole setup is just deeply embedded in illegality and lack of forthrightness.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Mr Ablakwa indicated that the inclusion of the National Cathedral’s Executive Director on the list of Presidential Staffers also needs to looked at. He thus questioned why the Ghanaian taxpayer is paying somebody who works for a private board of trustees.
The North Tongu legislator expressed that the situation is wrong and it is against “our Public Financial Management Laws”.
“When you go through the list of Board of Trustees, this gentleman [Dr Paul Opoku Mensah] who has been enlisted here as the Executive Director of the Secretariat, a Secretariat presented as a private entity has also been enlisted as a Presidential staffer and his position, there is Overseer of the National Cathedral.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Transparency in construction project
Mr Ablakwa highlighted that the lack of transparency surrounding the construction is baffling and that to date the amount government has released to the project is still unknown.
“Government’s conduct lacks transparency and humility and the heights of lawlessness. I am deeply worried that these imminent priests who have collectively united this nation have been put together by President [Akufo-Addo] and is engaging in this lawlessness”.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Currently, Mr Ablakwa has put out documents which suggests that an amount of GHS 200 million has been released to the construction of the project.
Prior to this, IMANI Africa’s President, Franklin Cudjoe, stated that the government was “shooting itself in the foot” with its pursuit of the National Cathedral. He noted that it was unfortunate that the Finance Ministry has taken centre stage in the matter because of the circulation of a letter indicating an additional GH¢25 million of state funds as seed money.
“The options that it has painted for us that we need to be supportive of the state enterprises project is not being matched with the kind of investment they are making in this cathedral.”
Franklin Cudjoe
Mr Cudjoe opined that more transparency is required from the government on the matter of the construction of the cathedral, which has a $350 million budget.
“Let’s have some proper conversations about the procurement. How are the people who are shepherding this project selected? Is the cost reflecting the exact cost of items? What is the level of exposure of the government?”
Franklin Cudjoe
The Minority in Parliament has already filed three urgent questions to compel the Minister for Finance to provide details on how much the state has spent on the National Cathedral Project.
Similarly, Mr Collins Adomako-Mensah, Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North, has called on the Ministry of Finance to clarify the budget and how much government has spent so far on the national cathedral project.
A clarification, he said would put to rest the speculations and propaganda on the amount used for the project so far.
