The Member of
Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has claimed that the
National Cathedral project will cost the taxpayer a total of $1 billion and not
$400 million as claimed by the government and members of the board of trustees.
Mr Ablakwa who
has on several occasions raised issues with the relevance of the National
Cathedral said on Face to Face on Citi TV on Tuesday that the $400
million being bandied around by the government as the total cost of the project
completely ignores several other factors that shoot the total cost past $1
billion.
GROW
YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS WITH THIS POWERFUL PLATFORM – (TEACHABLE)
“We were told by
the Finance Minister that the project will cost $100 million, then the figure
rose to $150 million. The Chairman, Opoku Onyinah later mentioned $200 million
but now based on fresh documents, I have realized the project is going to cost
the Ghanaian taxpayer about $1 billion.”
“The same amount former president Mahama used to set up the Ghana Gas project which is earning us about $400 million a year,” Mr Ablakwa told Umaru Sanda Amadu.
The North Tongu
MP noted that the estimated $400 million does not include the cost of
relocation of the Judges’ bungalows, the $50 million needed for the relocation
of the Judicial Training Institute and the $10 million to relocate the passport
office.
He added that
Waterstone Complex which had its offices demolished to make way for the
cathedral is also in court suing the government for $120 million and also
millions of dollars needed to relocate the Comsys office and the residence of
the Malian Ambassador.
GROW YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS WITH THIS POWERFUL
PLATFORM –
(TEACHABLE)
Mr Ablakwa
indicated that the total cost of all these amounts including modifications to
the project such as the Biblical garden and the museum will shoot the total
cost from $400 million to over $1 billion.
The National Cathedral project has been engulfed in several controversies and has also faced stiff opposition with a section of the public being of the view that the project is not relevant considering Ghana’s economic woes.
He also alleged
that the project had stalled in the last ten months due to funding challenges.
Recent
developments
But President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has on numerous occasions stated that he will build
the cathedral regardless of the opposition from the public.
The Board of
Trustees of the National Cathedral on Tuesday resolved to subject the project
to a “normal statutory audit”.
GROW YOUR ONLINE BUSINESS WITH THIS POWERFUL
PLATFORM –
(TEACHABLE)
This follows
what the Board says are recent nagging issues that have enveloped the
construction process.
It has engaged
the services of audit firm, Deloitte for the audit work to begin.
The National Cathedral project has been engulfed in several controversies and has also fa
“The Board is
already in discussions to engage Deloitte, which accepted to be the auditors
when the National Cathedral was registered, to commence the normal statutory
audit”, the Board through its Chairman, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah said in a
statement.
The Secretary of
the Board of Trustees, Rev. Kusi Boateng has also been fingered by Okudzeto
Ablakwa for having multiple identities and receiving some 2.6 million cedis for
no work done.
Two members of
the Board of Trustees – Founder and Leader of Action Chapel International,
Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams and Rev. Eastwood Anaba, President of the
Eastwood Anaba Ministries have called for an immediate suspension of the
construction of the National Cathedral pending an audit of the project
0 comments:
Post a Comment