Parliament set to investigate National Cathedral project as Speaker admits motion

The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has admitted a motion to probe the National Cathedral Project.

This followed a Private Members’ Motion sponsored by Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, and Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah among others.

The motion will see a committee constituted “to conduct an inquiry into the National Cathedral of Ghana project and all related matters.”

The committee will subsequently make recommendations for the House’s consideration.

Other National Democratic Congress (NDC) legislators who backed the motion include Minority Chief Whip Kwame Governs Agbodza; Bolgatanga East MP, Dr Dominic Ayine; Krachi West MP Helen Ntoso and North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

The development comes about a month after two eminent clergymen and members of the Board of Trustees of the controversial National Cathedral project have called for its immediate suspension and a financial audit undertaken.

The two – Archbishop Duncan Williams and Rev Eastwood Anaba said their call is based on the controversies surrounding the project. 

According to them, the suspension will pave the way for transparency and accountability to be provided to the Ghanaian people. 

The National Cathedral Project has been one of the most controversial public issues since the project was first announced by President Akufo-Addo.

The Secretary of the Board, Rev Victor Kusi Boateng has also been accused of a conflict of interest regarding some expenditure in the project’s execution.

Apart from questions of accountability which have been repeatedly raised by the Minority in Parliament, there have also been concerns about the relevance of the project, in the face of the country’s economic crisis.

Amidst the plethora of issues, founder of the LightHouse Chapel International, Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, resigned from the Cathedral’s Board of Trustee in August 2022.

In so doing, the preacher did not assign any specific reason for his departure; leaving the public to rely on their own conjectures and speculations about why the celebrated man of God left the scene.

Meanwhile, President Akufo-Addo has on numerous occasions stated that he will build the cathedral regardless of the opposition from the public.

Source: Myjoyonline