The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is demanding the publication of the Deloitte audit report on the National Cathedral project, which paves the way for the continuation of the construction of the project.
In a statement signed by the Board Chairman of the National Cathedral Project, Apostle Professor Opoku Onyinah, it was revealed that auditors from Deloitte, covering the period from the project’s inception to December 31, 2020, have completed the audit following a September 20 meeting between the Board of Directors of the National Cathedral of Ghana and Deloitte Ghana.
However, in a Facebook post, the Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, is demanding the full publication of the audit report purportedly clearing the National Cathedral project for the period ending December 31, 2020.
“First of all, let me point out that Ghanaians demand a full publication of the said 2020 audit to draw our own informed conclusions. We shall not rely on the interpretations of an interested party,” Ablakwa wrote.
He added, “I stress that it is grossly misleading to conclude that because of a 2020 audit report—a report covering only one year—it means no adverse findings have been made for the entire project.”
The statement signed by National Cathedral Board Chairman, Apostle Prof. Opoku Onyinah, duly acknowledges that the audits for 2021, 2022, and 2023 are all outstanding.
According to Ablakwa, documents submitted to Parliament by former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, through the Ministry’s Chief Director, Patrick Nomo, dated November 21, 2022, when the Minority demanded a breakdown of releases on the National Cathedral project, revealed that by 2020, only 0.13% of financial releases had been made.
Specifically, on June 7, 2019, GHS445,000 (US$89,000) was released for the National Cathedral project (document submitted to Parliament duly attached). The remaining over 99% of releases happened after 2020.
The post-2020 details as contained in the Finance Ministry documents are provided below:
1. On March 5, 2021, a release of GHS80,525,461.84 (US$13,972,594.93) was made.
2. On February 10, 2021, another release of GHS32,070,103.02 (US$5,564,827.84) was made.
3. On October 29, 2021, a release of GHS142,762,500.00 (US$25,000,000.00) was made.
4. On August 19, 2021, a release of GHS58,200,000.00 (US$10,000,000.00) was made.
5. On March 31, 2022, a release of GHS25,000,000.00 (US$3,515,086.75) was made.
All these releases amounted to GHS339,003,064.86 (US$58,141,509.52).
What this means is that the 2020 audit covers only 0.13% of the actual releases for the National Cathedral project.
As we await the full publication of the 2020 audit, we also eagerly await the completion of the 2021, 2022, and 2023 audits, which will cover more than 99% of the releases made.
It will be interesting to see how any credible audit can conclude that the world’s most expensive pit, now upgraded to a “National Cathedral Swimming Pool,” truly cost US$58.1 million.
It will also be interesting to see how the litany of corrupt practices, diversions to Cary Summers and others, inflationary pricing, multiple legal breaches, demolitions, avoidable compensations, and criminal double identity payments will be addressed by any credible audit. He noted.
