Daniel Yao Domelevo, a former Auditor-General has fired shots at the Mahama-led government for prioritizing the construction of a Hajj Village.
According to Daniel Domelevo the Hajj Village project is ‘fruitless and wasteful’.
Daniel Domelevo noted that the Hajj project was unnecessary at the time Ghanaians were still dealing with the financial fallout from Akufo-Addo’s $58 million spent on the National Cathedral.
Daniel Domelevo further fired shots at Felix Kwakye Ofosu, who assured that the Hajj Village project would not come at any cost to the taxpayer.
He indicated that the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) is a state-owned enterprise, meaning its revenue ultimately belongs to the government.
Domelevo stated, “ “It is truly astonishing—especially as we grapple with recovering over $58 million squandered on the National Cathedral project—that one of the key priorities of the Mahama administration is the fruitless and wasteful Hajj Village project”.
The former Auditor-General later compared Ghana’s priorities to those of Ethiopia, according to him, Ethiopia with a large Muslim population has invested in infrastructure that serves a broader economic purpose like the five-star Skylight hotel with over 1,000 rooms to support passenger transit.
Domelevo chastised the government to stop celebrating mediocrity.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu has revealed that the Hajj Village project by the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) is purely a commercial project.
According to Kwakye Ofosu, the Ghana Airports Company Limited realized that Hajj is an annual ritual where thousands of people pass through their airport, so they decided to build it to charge some fees.
Kwakye Ofosu asserted that the Hajj Village project is steered by business considerations rather than government support.
Speaking in an interview on CITI News Felix Kwakye Ofosu once again dismissed claims public funds were being used to support the facility.
He stated, “The Hajj Village is purely a commercial project. The Ghana Airports Company Limited saw that they have a certain clientele, so they are tailoring services to meet that clientele with the ultimate objective of making a profit and generating dividends for their shareholder, which is the government.”
Felix Kwakye further detailed how the GACL invested $276 million to build the Terminal 3.
The minister added, “If you go to Terminal 3, GACL invested $276 million because the government of Ghana asked them to keep all their IGF to build their balance sheet to attract funding from various financial institutions”.
Again, in Terminal 3, there is a place they call VIP, which is an exclusive lounge for upper-class members of society who pay an arm and a leg to access that service”, he asserted.
Felix Kwakye detailed, “They created that niche market to generate revenue. So, they realized that this is an annual ritual where thousands of people pass through their airport, and they should build it [the village] to charge some fees”.
