NATIONAL CATHEDRAL: Opuni-Frimpong Demands Explanation Over GH¢200 Million Expenditure

A former General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Rev Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, has called on the Board of Trustees for the National Cathedral project to clear the air over the alleged GH¢200 million said to have been spent on the monument.

Rev. Opuni-Frimpong who is not happy about the handling of the project wants explanation as to whether the government or the Church is building the cathedral.

According to Dr. Opuni-Frimpong, the clarification is needed because, when he was part of the Board of Trustees, there was a clear indication that the Church will construct the cathedral and the government will only help with facilitation, this is according to myjoyonline.com reports.

He said that trustees must come out and state whether the government has taken over the project, after the North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okludzeto Ablakwa, alleged that the government has so far spent GH¢200 million on the construction of the cathedral.

“So far, I have only heard the side of the story from Honourable Ablakwa. The current trustees of the Cathedral must quickly come out and tell us whether they have received the money or not; whether churches are building the cathedral or now government has taken over. I want to hear their side of the story – what has changed; what have they received; what have they not received?”

“In a clear language, [the minister for religious affairs said] the President would give us the land and we [churches] would mobilise, and that the government would facilitate the process. We accepted that challenge that churches in Ghana, all of us are coming together to build the Cathedral,” he is quoted to have said in an interview on JoyNews. It would be recalled that the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa alleged that the Akufo-Addo-led administration has so far dolled out over GH¢190 million in funding for the construction of the National Cathedral.

His comment comes on the back of a recent report that the government has released an amount of GH¢32 million for the project.

In a post on his social media handle, Mr. Ablakwa said the government had earlier released an amount of over GH¢142 million bringing the cumulative funding for the project to GH¢199,832,603.00.

He detailed that this latest amount was concealed from Parliament and was additionally hidden from the Auditor-General in his 2020 audit.

“It is of considerable consternation to note that contrary to legal requirements, the government concealed this ginormous GHS142.7million from Parliament as they deliberately failed to disclose this item as part of their Expenditure Returns of 2020 during the 2021 Budget consideration in Parliament.

“This 2020 cathedral expenditure was also kept away from the Auditor-General in his 2020 audit.

“So far, adding this latest exposé to our previous leaks, the Akufo-Addo government has spent a mind-boggling GH¢199,832,603.00 of taxpayer funds on a cathedral which was originally presented to Ghanaians as a personal pledge to God that will not be executed with taxpayer funds,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Mr. Ablakwa added that more illegal monies have been paid, stressing that “a further scarier note, the figures we are currently reviewing do not look like anything near a “seed capital.”

The legislator labelled the construction of the National Cathedral Project as the biggest presidential scandal in the country’s entire history.

According to him, “in the name of a cathedral project, a corrupt slush fund has been created to siphon taxpayer funds from the suffering masses on the blind side of Parliament, the Auditor-General, CSOs and other accountability systems”.

This is Okudzeto Ablakwa’s full post:

As promised, here are more calamitous revelations on unconstitutional payments by the Akufo-Addo government purportedly to finance a Cathedral project.

On 29th October, 2020—few weeks to the national elections, Ken Ofori-Atta, acting on a request by President Akufo-Addo’s Chief of Staff, authorized the release of a gargantuan GH¢142,762,500.00 for national cathedral “planned activities.”

It is of considerable consternation to note that contrary to legal requirements, government concealed this ginormous GH¢142.7million from Parliament as they deliberately failed to disclose this item as part of their Expenditure Returns of 2020 during the 2021 Budget consideration in Parliament.

This 2020 cathedral expenditure was also kept away from the Auditor-General in his 2020 audit.

So far, adding this latest exposé to our previous leaks, the Akufo-Addo government has spent a mind-boggling GH¢199,832,603.00 of taxpayer funds on a cathedral which was originally presented to Ghanaians as a personal pledge to God that will not be executed with taxpayer funds.

Unfortunately, digging into the tons of documents divinely in our possession, we regret to report to Ghanaians that many more millions have been paid illegally which we shall continue to put out to the glory of God and in the overall national interest.

On a further scarier note, the figures we are currently reviewing do not look like anything near a “seed-capital.”

This GH¢200million cathedral-gate has turned out to be the biggest presidential scandal in Ghana’s entire history.

It is terribly shocking how our President and his men could engage in such ungodly, illegal and insensitive conduct. They seem to have absolutely no fear of God?

Clearly, in the name of a cathedral project, a corrupt slush fund has been created to siphon taxpayer funds from the suffering masses on the blind side of Parliament, the Auditor-General, CSOs and other accountability systems.

Instructively, these illegal diversions took place when government was engaged in massive vote-buying to win the 2020 elections; it was also the period COVID-19 had peaked and placed enormous pressure on our health delivery as many Ghanaians died, and yet President Akufo-Addo claimed he couldn’t find the resources to fulfill his Agenda 111 pledge of building new hospitals.

I have no doubt in my mind that were Jesus Christ to return to Earth at this moment, He will pick up His whip again and visit Ghana’s cathedral construction site as He did to those who corrupted His Temple in Jerusalem.