Parliament suspends approval of ₵80m for National Cathedral
GH₵80 million allocated for the construction of the National Cathedral has been put on hold for now by the Trades and Industry Committee.
The funds Which were made to The Ministry of Tourism of Ghana has failed to receive endorsement from the Trades and Industry Committee of Parliament due to so many unanswered questions concerning the establishment of the National Cathedral.
Tamale`s Central MP, Murtala Mohammed , disclosed on JoyNews that, until the Committee is satisfied with the right answers, the funds will not be approved according to the Ministry’s estimates.
“What the Committee decided was that we cannot just approve this GH₵80 million, we must know how the other GH₵339 million was spent. What did it constitute?”
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“The GH₵80 million you want us to approve, how did it find space in the budget line of the Ministry of Tourism when the Minister and the directors could not speak to the questions we were asking? What constitutes the GH₵80 million, they should give us a breakdown,” he opened up in an interview with JoyNews’ Parliamentary Affairs Correspondent, Kwaku Asante on Tuesday, December 13 2022.
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The MP stated that the Committee has invited the Finance Minister,Ken Ofori Atta and other stakeholders to give a clear explanation on the already squandered GH₵339 million on the National Cathedral.
“Those who expended the money we are inviting them, we are inviting the Secretariat to come and explain, the Minister for Finance to come and explain to us how they spent those monies. If not, it will be unconscionable if we will go ahead to approve this,” he stated.
Parliament is about to approve the right bill for 2023 Budget which would be presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta which includes GH₵80 million allocation to the establishment of the National Cathedral.
Ibrahim Murtala Mohammed also alleged that the allocation was imposed on the Ministry by the Presidency without the knowledge of the Minister and technocrats at the Ministry. He argued that the technocrats from Ministry of Trade were unable to provide a clear explanation.
“Is it the case that it was imposed on the Minister and the Ministry from the flagstaff House? I get the sense that is what happened, because if it was not imposed on the Minister, the Directors and the Chief Directors who were all there, they should have been able to provide us with the answers, they could not do that, so it is ridiculous,” he added.
In other news, the Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin II has pleaded support for the building of the National Cathedral so as not to bring shame to the President, Akufo-Addo.
The MP in responding to Okyehene’s comment said the edifice cannot be established at the expense of the toil of Ghanaians.
“We have a very respected traditional leader who says that we should not bring shame. We should not bring shame at the expense of our survival, so because of avoiding shame people must rob in the name of God. You think God will be happy? I think that God is angry with this government.”
