Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has alleged that the National Cathedral secretariat spent all monies realised from a fundraiser in the United States on two symposia held in Accra.
Ablakwa who has serially published purported records of public funds sunk into the project, for the first time on Wednesday, January 4, spoke about issues around privately-sourced funds for the project.
Without providing the source of his information, the lawmaker said out of the over GH¢794,000 from the fundraiser, GH¢790,000 was spent as expenditure on two Bible Museum symposia held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra.
The Bible Museum is one of the main facilities the Cathedral will house and is touted as one of the revenue generation planks of the edifice because of its ability to attract religious tourists.
Ablakwa in a Facebook post dated January 4, referenced recent efforts by the Cathedral Secretariat to raise funds for the completion of the project after Parliament rejected an expenditure item for the project in the 2023 budget.
“After we successfully blocked the GH¢80million budgetary allocation for President Akufo-Addo’s Cathedral in Parliament; I have observed a spirited campaign by the National Cathedral Secretariat to woo private donors and assure the donor community that it can still meet its ambitious 2024 completion target.
“The Secretariat’s track record gives me very little confidence in that regard,” the post stated.
On the issue of how the raised funds were disbursed, Ablakwa stated: “This is a Secretariat that raised the equivalent of GH¢794,990.01 from its fundraising in the United States of America, and then decided to host 2 Bible Museum of Africa symposia at Kempinski in Accra which cost them GH¢790,845.27.
“In simpler terms, the Secretariat’s Kempinski expenditure is virtually everything raised from its US fundraiser, leaving only a measly GH¢4,144.74 for actual construction. Any wonder the JV contractors, RIBADE Ltd have long abandoned site since March 2022 for lack of payment?” the post concluded.
Source: ghanaweb.com
