The Director of the National Cathedral, Dr Paul Opoku Mensah, has taken a swipe at the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, over allegations of corruption he has made on the cathedral project.
According to him, all the allegations the legislator has made on the cathedral project are lies which should be disregarded.
Speaking in an interview on UTV, on Friday, June 9, 2023, Dr Opoku Mensah added that members of the Board of Trustees of the National Cathedral are mute on the allegations being made by Ablakwa because they can’t go on social media to debate lies.
“None of what Okudzeto Ablakwa is saying is true. We don’t respond to his claims because we are doing the work of God and we can’t follow him to social media (to debate).
“We have all the records of the monies used and they were sent to parliament. This is it, we are not telling lies,” he said in the Twi dialect.
He added that all the support the cathedral project has received from the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government was approved by the Parliament of Ghana.
Ablakwa, in his latest exposé on the National Cathedral, alleged that the architect for the National Cathedral of Ghana, Sir David Adjaye, was paid an additional $6 million just for amending the original design of the cathedral to include a restaurant.
In a series of tweets shared on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, the MP slammed the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government for its continued failure to prioritise the needs of the country given the current economic hardships.
Ablakwa could not believe that the government which says it has no money to pay school feeding caters, can afford to pay for works on the cathedral.
The MP shared a supposed document from the Ministry of Finance showing the said payment.
“Please refer to your letter No. SCR/DE3/296/02 dated 27th April 2021 requesting the release of US$5.817.769.65 (Five Million, Eight Hundred and Seventeen Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty- Nine US Dollars, Sixty-Five Cents) to pay consultancy fees in respect of the Variation Orders for the inclusion of 300+ Seater Restaurant and Expansion of the Bible Museum on the National Cathedral Project.
“We wish to suggest that due to budgetary constraints, the request in respect of the Variation Orders be charged to your funding source while Government take steps to provide additional funding for the project in the course of the year,” parts of the document read.
