Flag bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has disclosed his intentions of partnering the clergy to secure support from the private sector to complete the National Cathedral project.
The Vice President, who noted the Cathedral is an important project for the State is of the view that the church needs to come together to put the project to completion.
Dr. Bawumia was speaking to the clergy as part of his tour to the Greater Accra Region Tuesday, June 04, 2024, when he made the revelation, saying “we can’t leave it where it is.”
“The National Cathedral, I have contributed to its construction personally. I believe it’s a very important thing for Ghana. But I think that as it stands now, the Church has to come together and govern it and let us sit down and talk about the way forward for the National Cathedral.
“The Church should come together and let us know the best way forward, how we can even get private resources to help us complete the cathedral. But I think it is possible. We should not say it is not possible,” the Vice President stated.
Government has so far spent almost GHC400million on the National Cathedral project which has been abandoned at its foundation stage.
The Executive Director of the National Cathedral Secretariat, Dr Paul Opoku Mensah, made the revelation.
According to him, the Akufo-Addo government has spent a total of GH₵339.003.064.86 on the project.
The amount includes a total of GH₵113 million paid to the Consultant, Sir David Adjaye and GH₵225 million paid directly to the Secretariat for the construction of the project.
Dr. Opoku Mensah was speaking with the media after President Akufo-Addo’s tour of the project site Monday, January 02, 2023, dismissing reports that the secretariat had misappropriated funds allocated for the project by the state.
“For purposes of clarity, I want to report a verbatim memo I sent on this issue dated 19th January 2022 and addressed to the Clerk of Parliament. The indication was that the government has given us GH₵339 million, and we could account for GH₵225 million leaving GH₵114 million missing.
“Here, I quote what I wrote to the Clerk. As we indicated to the Committee on Thursday, December 15, 2022, the total amount paid by the Government of Ghana to the National Cathedral project is GH¢339 million. This total is made up of the following: the amount paid directly to the National Cathedral Secretariat is GH₵225 million. The amount paid directly to the Consultant, Adjaye Associates & Design Team is GH₵113.040.54.67 million The two payments total GH₵339.003.064.86.
“So, there are no missing funds that could not be accounted for. Secondly, the detailed account for these funds was provided to Parliament on December 15, 2022, by the Secretariat. In the case of the accounting from the Secretariat, this involves among others, total payments made to the contractor, and total payments made to the Bible Museum and Biblical Gardens Design Team,” he had indicated.
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