Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the member of parliament for North Tongu, has released a report that the government of Ghana paid a consultant over GH¢28 million for the organization of a fundraiser in support of the construction of a National Cathedral.
According to Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the state despite paying such an amount to the consultant realized only GH¢794,990 after the fundraiser was held in the United States of America.
“Latest Cathedral documents I am analyzing expose a shocking payment of an unbelievable GH¢28.2million (GH¢28,244,716.97) from Ghanaian taxpayer funds to one Mr. Cary Summers, an American President & CEO of the Nehemiah Group.
“Mr. Cary Summers is described on the website of President Akuffo-Addo’s Cathedral as a ‘Consultant for the United States. Curiously, after receiving our GH¢28.2million, he spearheaded a US fundraising event for the Ghanaian government & Cathedral Secretariat which raised only a paltry GH¢794,990.01.”
Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Describing the incident as a “classical case of causing financial loss to the state,” Mr. Ablakwa disclosed that the payment could be seen as an act of generosity or wastefulness.
“Only the Ghanaian government pays GH¢28.2 million for less than GH¢800,000, which is all Cary Summers has raised for Ghana in three long years. A classical case of causing financial loss to the state.
“The Ghanaian government must be either the most generous or the most wasteful government in world history. When advocates of this scandalous cathedral project tell us it’s been such a blessing, we now understand exactly what they mean.”
Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Samuel Ablakwa has been a fierce critic of the National Cathedral project which is bedeviled with several controversies surrounding its funding.
The project which is estimated to cost some $400 million according to the government will see the invested money recouped by serving as a tourist attraction.
However, critics citing the disbursement of state funds towards the construction have questioned the priority given to the project under the current economic circumstance.
National Cathedral: Alleged Expenditure On ‘Infamous’ Kempinski Symposia
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa also released a document which gives a breakdown of the ‘infamous’ Kempinski expenditure as provided to Parliament by the Cathedral Secretariat
“The cost of accommodation, Conference and Banqueting amounted to GH¢509, 263.81 while that of travel expenses for invited guests cost GH¢157, 346.46 among others. This is the breakdown of the infamous Kempinski expenditure as provided by to Parliament by the Cathedral Secretariat.
“Perhaps if this GH¢790,845.27 and other diversions were channeled into actual construction, the contractors would not have stopped work due to lack of payment.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
According to him, the recently published 2021 Auditor-General’s report discovered that a total of GH¢142,762,500 from the national coffers was spent on the Ghana National Cathedral project in 2021.
This particular expenditure was however captured under the government’s priority program and interventions for the year under review, he said.
Most recently, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo donated an amount GH¢100,000 towards the completion of the National Cathedral project despite widespread backlash and criticism.
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