Kofi Bentil, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, has charged GhanaWeb to retract a defamatory story on the former Attorney General, Godfred Dame.
According to Kofi Bentil, it is unfortunate that Ghana Web ignored the correction he sought to make of the relevant facts in the course of the programme.
He further accused the online portal of being mischievous by using only the initial comments as it headline story.
The IMANI vice president respectfully called on GhanaWeb to not only retract the story but also publish this correction in full.
Kofi Bentil’s initial comments on the NEWS File, as quoted by Ghanaweb, stated, “In my view, the AG lied… I don’t know how to put this, but in short, this is one of the reasons why the present Chief Justice is facing what she’s facing. Some of us were disappointed that in the face of things, it seemed there were preconceived decisions”.
“My own brother, the AG, lied because he had those facts and went and controverted what Bomfeh said. And the judges, instead of taking judicial notice, looking at the facts in front of them, lined up behind the government in the face of things that we could all see.”
Mr Bentil added, “The belief in the government was not founded. There was evidence in front of them, and it could be checked.”
However, Kofi Bentil, in a Facebook post, stated the publication is misleading as it presented only a part of the comments he made on a programme on News File.
He wrote, “My attention has been drawn to a publication on GhanaWeb, Ghanaweb News Online titled. “National Cathedral: Godfred Dame lied to the Supreme Court funds – Kofi Bentil.
The said publication is misleading as it presented only a part of comments I made on a programme on Joy Fm – News File”.
Kofi Bentil added, “I still stand by my fervid opposition to the patently bad idea of a National Cathedral, and still hold that it was not true that the Government was not going to spend public funds on it.
The point I intended to convey was that all statements that the government was not funding the project were wrong. That said, it is important to state the correct facts, which is why I made the corrections on air”.
Mr Bentil added that the Ghanaweb publication ignored the fact that in the course of the same programme, he made a correction.
The IMANI Vice President further added that, “The Attorney-General of the day was Madam Gloria Akuffo and not Mr. Godfred Yeboah Dame. Mr. Dame was a Deputy Attorney-General, even though he was counsel on record in that case.
My information is that, at the time the National Cathedral Case filed by James Kwabena Bomfeh and argued in 2018, leading to judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in January, 2019, the actual construction of the Cathedral had not commenced. The question of whether it was constitutional for the State to spend the colossal amounts of money, it subsequently did on the construction, which I still believe was excessive, therefore did not arise for determination in that case”.
Kofi Bentil’s comments come following the brouhaha surrounding the National Cathedral following the new revelation by the audit carried out by Deloitte and Touche.
The documents revealed Ghana owes the contractor an additional $39 million for the National Cathedral, raising the total project cost to $97 million, far above the widely cited $58 million.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, the Minister of State in Charge of Communication, addressing the media on Friday, July 18, 2025, stated, “Contrary to the widely held view that total payments and contributions to the National Cathedral project amount to $58 million, there is actually an additional outstanding payment of $39 million to the contractor.
When added, this brings the total cost incurred so far for the hole that sits at the site of the project to $97 million”.
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